"As former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson accepts his new head coach position with the Chicago Bears, the biggest winners may just be the Washington Commanders.
Not only did Washington beat the Lions in the Divisional Round in large part due to Johnson being distracted, but it’s looking like the team dodged a major bullet in missing out on him last offseason.
It only took two days after Johnson’s Lions lost to the Commanders before he was announced as the Bears’ head coach, which seems to indicate that his plans were already made at the time of the game. Further reinforcing that belief is that he is already working on assembling his staff in Chicago, which is expected to include former New Orleans Saints head coaches Dennis Allen and (current interim) Darren Rizzi.
If such actions from Johnson sounds familiar for Commanders fans, it’s because last offseason, he was considered Washington’s top choice for its open head coaching position. The team was flying out to Detroit to interview him, and, though reports vary on how and why it happened, the interview never occurred.
Through both instances, Johnson has shown to be disloyal and deceitful – not traits that usually translate positively for someone in a position of leadership such as a head coach. Many have criticized Lions HC Dan Campbell’s in-game management and claimed Johnson’s play-calling is the true genius behind Detroit’s success the past few seasons, but Johnson’s mercenary tendencies would seem to indicate there is much more truth to the inverse statement.
On-field play designs can only take a coach so far (and sometimes, they even backfire). Leadership is how sustained excellence is achieved, the way Campbell has built in Detroit. If Johnson can’t learn a thing or two from him about how to put his team above himself, he will be exposed as one-dimensional.
Washington, meanwhile, will continue to reap the rewards of hiring Dan Quinn instead."
I really wouldn’t be taking anything this guy says as an unbiased reporter. Commanders went out of their way to bash him last year and save face after he said he wanted to work with sam howell.
Ryan McCafferty is a die-hard sports fan from Fairfax, Virginia. He has been a freelance writer for Sporting News since November of 2024, and before that contributed at Yardbarker for two years, mostly covering Washington-area professional teams. His primary interests include the NFL, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR racing, and though his local squads will always be number one in his heart, he considers himself a fan of the action above all else
Regardless, I do believe no coaching interviews should take place prior to the Super Bowl. A date should be set on which the league year ends, prior to that date any coach currently employed by a team is under contract and consulting with another team should be considered tampering.
I actually thought Ben would call his best game against the commanders. There was a lot of stuff said and he never really responded. Maybe that played into in a negative way?
This is stupid. This wasn’t messy. He wasn’t distracted. The Jamo pass stupid, but that’s also on Jamo. The guy has been A+++ for us including some damn good play calls against Washington. The offense wasn’t the problem. Goff and the defense was. Ben as been loyal as hell to this team. He could have taken a HC job last year. But stuck around because of his loyalty. It’s a new chapter for him. He’s a HC now. He can choose any team he wants that will hire him. He’s not a traitor. You guys who bash him are psycho.
I would have liked to cheer him on, but he’s with the Bears. So, i hope the worst for him lol. AG’s team will be my next favorite team.
I don’t get the messy exit part. There is only 32 of these jobs out there and a handful of them available every year. It’s not like the Lions were going to pay him 13M a year and give him January off.
How do you know he wasn’t distracted? Your telling me if I’m working at a job making 50k a year but have already accepted a new job making 250k a year that it wouldn’t distract me at all, even subconsciously.
We had 5 plays out of play action, we are usually about 50%, Gibbs ran only 14 times while averaging 7.5 yds per carry.
That Washington game was unlike any game we played all year and I’m suppose to believe it was just coincidence?
The fact that less than 36 hrs after the game he accepting the job from Chicago and already had his D coordinator worked out tells me he had more important things on his mind than a game for a team he was getting ready to leave.
I don’t necessarily agree with the articles premise but I can say that 1 - Ben’s head did not seem to be in that game and the offense (not all his fault but to a degree) was sketchy at best. 2 - Going to an in division rival is the ultimate disloyal move to DC who gave you a chance and has been fully supportive of you as you made a name for yourself. Maybe it is the only job offer he got but it really is smack in the face to DC and the lions players IMO.
Agree, 100 percent the guy knew he was about to make 13 mill per season coaching the Bears while calling plays for the Lions Saturday night. Pure trash the nfl allows that.