Maybe it’s me, but it seems that when they talk about Detroit and their offensive ability, they always bring up Ben Johnson as the brains behind the operation as the OC.
However, when they discuss SF or KC and their offense, the discussion appears to begin and end with Reid and Shanahan as the brains behind the operation.
Not sure why the media is so quick to credit everything that happens on offense to Reid and Shanahan but when it comes to Detroit, it’s Ben Johnson? Is there still disrespect on Campbell? Maybe some in the media decided that Campbell was a meathead and now that the Lions have been successful, it’s gotta be someone else but him as the reason for success.
Its bc the general public and some fans view dan as a meathead. How many people did you see throw out the meathead term after the niner game? 2 guys are considered geniuses/savants and Dan is considered a loveable charachter that his players love to play for and sometimes win inspite of.
We started winning in 21 when Dan took over play calling.
I’m not saying Ben isn’t brilliant. His players love him. Goff loves him.
Still, at the beginning of 22 Dan was teetering over who was going to call games.
Reid drafted Jason and Travis and it’s public knowledge that Reid and Travis are very close (he’s not a disgruntled player who has a beef with his coach). In the great of the moment Travis overreacted but I think it’s a bunch of nothing.
I have often wondered how much of the offense has to do with Dan. I think he definitely deserves some credit. He fired Lynn and when Lynn was running the offense it didn’t look good. And he was bright enough to hand it over to Johnson. Whose done great, but the obvious take away is that Johnson made it better . Regardless, IMO Dan had a big hand in creating that offense around Goff too.
Its Dan’s offense and Ben has added to it brilliantly. One of the reasons why Dan personally took over the playcalling duties was because he had a specific vision for what he wanted the offense to look like. If Ben was ready to take over that version of our offense back then, Dan would have given him the job instead of doing it himself. Dan established the foundation and core of who we are. “Experts” constantly rave about how well our offense executes the little details that make plays work. That’s Dan leading the way, and Ben building off of that.
I think we have a win/win situation going on. Dan established something that Ben wasn’t ready to establish for himself. Ben took that foundation and kicked it up a notch. Now Ben is ready to take what he learned from Dan and apply it somewhere else. And when the next OC for the Lions takes over, they will be stepping into something Dan and Ben built together. But its not a situation where “the offense” leaves the building when Ben leaves.
That moment says alot about Andy Reid, and why is so good at his job. There are alot of weak minded coaches who would feel the need to “make an example” out of a guy for doing that to them. Andy isn’t like that. He keeps “the main thing the main thing.” So his ego doesn’t jump in the way like some other coaches. Travis Kelce is a rare character who can be “a coaches worst nightmare” or “a player who is wound a bit tight, but I love that about him. We just need to calm him down from time to time.”
Travis had “character concerns” coming out of college and was known as a bit of a hothead. A good coach like Andy or Dan would be able to lean into it and get the most out of the player. A guy like Matt Patricia would feel threatened and lose him.