I think the Eagles definitely underestimated the Bears without Caleb.
https://x.com/chadfisher/status/2104792695193379144?s=46
Toughness personified. Not AI btw.
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Spa Day
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It was also quite a douchy look for Caleb to wear sunglasses during a night game. He’s a very unlikable character.
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What we need is for Caleb to have a couple of shitty games in a row and for the fans to start calling for Casey Keenum. His alter ego Kayla might never recover.
Like my mother said when I was placed into kindergarten at five years old, academically I could handle it, emotionally I wasn’t ready. 
. She might be able to say that same thing today.
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Remember Sean Hill? Keenan is better.
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So all my sources in regards to the Lions have always been on offensive side of the ball. I have said since before BJ was a known entity that this offense was, is and always will be Dan’s baby. Dan is the main architect behind it. Ben? Ben is an offensive genius who Dan allowed to grow within the framework of HIS offense and allowed him to have bumps and turbulence as he grew in confidence as a offensive play caller. Ben in his own right is an offensive genius. What you seeing is Ben’s personal flare and rhythm. Why can’t Ben be an offensive genius and Dan also be an offensive genius. Why can’t it be two dynamic minds?
You watched a MNF game and witnessed Ben Johnson’s team dismantle the eagles. You are talking about two top 10 elite offenses.
Lions rank 3rd in scoring, bears rank 4th.
Lions rank 9th in total yards, bears rank 2nd.
Lions rank 8th in passing offense, bears rank 10th.
Lions rank 9th in rushing offense, Bears rank 10th.
Lions rank 2nd in Offensive DVOA, Bears rank 7th.
Does anyone think the Bears have a better run attack then the Lions (who are missing their starting center)?
Does anyone think the Lions wr core is worse then the Bears? Make no mistake, Jamo catches those 2-3 balls he dropped that were sure fire big plays, this offense looks even better. Laporta is getting his, Gibbs is getting his, Saint is getting his.
So the question is, what are you suggesting? We should have fired Dan to keep Ben and made him Head Coach?
That would be the ultimate SOL thinking SOL fan base mentality.
And it’s 100% people question this stuff. My own cousins and family members in our group txt last night said “Bro, I know you say Dan is the key to the Lions offense, but it’s ben, you are wrong, look what he is doing”
to which i said “I know what i know, Ben is a masterful offensive mind, Dan is as well”
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Ben Johnson has clearly proven himself to be an offensive genius. Calling MCDC one seems like a stretch. If he is then he’s the first to consistently give up play calling duties. Most of those guys keep play calling under tight control.
When Dan took over the offense last year they were a top 10 offense going into the Commanders game.
The offensive rankings with Dan as the official OC for 9 games:
4th in the league PPG
5th in the league Total Yards
3rd in the league passing offense.
14th in the league rushing offense. (we know the offensive line was trash).
Saint’s numbers going into Commanders game vs after:
48 catches 546 yards and 7 tds, 67 targets.
69 catches 855 yards 4 tds
Jamo’s numbers going into the Commanders game vs after:
25 catches 422 yards 4 tds 40 targets
40 receptions 695 yards 3 tds
Gibbs numbers going into the commanders game vs after:
101 carries, 502 yards (4.5 ypc)6 tds. 26 receptions 210 yards 2 tds. Total scrimmage 702 an 8 tds.
142 carries 721 yards 5.1 ypc 7 tds, 51 catches 406 yards 3 tds 1,127 total yards.
Goff’s numbers going into the Commanders game vs after:
172/236 Completions 72.9% 1931 passing yards. 14 tds 3 ints 109.4 passer rating.
188/261 72% 2633 yards 20 tds 5 ints 109.1 passer rating.
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You’re user name seems disingenuous. Just saying but BJSlappy is still available.
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I get where you’re coming from, but that’s actually viewing a head coach’s role through a pretty narrow lens. True CEO-style leaders don’t have to white-knuckle the play sheet on every single snap to be offensive masterminds—their genius is in building the structural blueprint, setting the identity, and empowering their staff to execute it.
Look at guys like Andy Reid or even Sean Payton historically—they’ve routinely delegated play-calling duties or evolved past needing to call every play themselves, yet nobody questions who designs the engine.
Dan handed off day-to-day play-calling because that’s what a good HC does to manage the whole team, but the system, the concepts, and the framework are still his baby. The numbers from the back half of last season prove that when that system was left running, the machine didn’t skip a beat. You can acknowledge Ben’s brilliance without stripping away the fact that Dan built the foundation it stands on.
Where did Dan come from? The Sean Payton tree. This is his style. He is a true CEO leader. What is an issue is right now he is having to babysit Shep, we don’t want him being an OC, he is bigger then that. The overall team struggled last year when he took over as play caller. What ben has done is gone out and gotten guys who allow him to white knuckle the offensive side of the ball. And make no mistake, Ben does do that. It does not take away from what Dan does, his genius is not recognized as quickly because people see him as a meathead, or they try to compare him to offensive geniuses that fit the mold they are most accustomed to seeing in the BJ, MCVAY, Shanahan mold.
Now you want to debate the merit of Dan going out and getting his DC who is his robin to his batman? I am all for that, we had that in AG, I think Shep is hurting us right now. He is a good couch but he is struggling.
I get what youre saying about delegating and I prefer that from MCDC but IMO he hasnt done enough in the league to be called an offensive genius. That’s all im saying. He could be idk. And im pretty sure Reid and Payton have called plays for the overwhelming majority of their HC careers. Payton may have screwed up by not doing it this year to keep Davis from leaving but thats still up in the air.
That is fine. It’s a message board. People all have opinions. People verbalize those opinions. I do not make statements unless I have heard it enough times in certain circles. I will say “jared verse is a great defensive end, I would have liked him in Detroit” I won’t say “the lions should have taken Jared Verse and they made a huge mistake not taking him” unless I get the tea from someone in the draft room who says “brad actually wanted Jared and this and that happened and Brad didn’t pull the trigger”. It’s all subjective opinion until you have weighted inside intel. Inside league circles Dan Campbell is very much viewed as an offensive genius by more then a few. The term has been thrown around. The media has just been slow to pick up on it and attributes most of the Lions success to Ben.
I am not sure I need an offensive genius. I sure love having a leader of men. One who I am not embarrassed of as our leader and one that sets an example for his players. Most importantly, he seems like a leader players want to go balls out for. And if he has the sense to get good coordinators and keep us in contention, I can certainly live with that. Contending meaning you have an actual shot at the whole thing. I absolutely think that is the case this season.
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explain what happened in week 2 sir…because DCs teams never get held to 3 points.
Also, DC is one of the best 5 coaches in all of the NFL. Let’s say Ben is 4 for argument sake and DC is 5…so what???
Ben isn’t btw…he hasnt proven anything other than he can win when his team leads the league in turnovers while playing the easiest schedule in football. Bears could go 8-9 this year so can we let this play out some more first?
I might need a hiatus from this board my god
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Before I hear anyone say “The weather was bad!”, just remember…
Week 9, 2024
Detroit at Packers
Lions win, 24-14.
That game was playing in a hard rain. Remember everyone saying the Lions can’t play outside? Remember everyone saying this game favors the Packers, because they are used to the elements and the soft cushy domed Lions are not?
In case anyone forget about the weather, here was our own AG’s view calling plays on defense.
Dan says it all.
So, using today’s logic, there’s our proof. Dan in the rain, scores 24. Ben in the rain, scores 3.
Dan’s the offensive genius. 
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Ben got a truckload of money to live in the Chicago suburbs and coach the Bears.
They love him there. I have a Chicago transplant neighbor and the guy won’t shut up about how great Ben Johnson is.
Sounds like Ben Johnson is winning at life.
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Did you watch that Chicago game? Did you see the conditions they were playing in? Ben was building an ark on the sideline in case the rain didn’t stop. Much easier to score on carpet.