Bears have the Packers to thank for latest reason to hire Ben Johnson

Once the NFL season ends, the coaching carousel will be spinning in full effect. For teams that opt to move on from their head coaches, the hottest candidate will undoubtedly be Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Last year, Johnson explored opportunities but ultimately decided to return to Detroit for another year. Now, he will have his choice of teams.

One team in need of a head coach are the Chicago Bears, who fired Matt Eberflus after the team's Thanksgiving disaster. Johnson would make a lot of sense as a head coach for the Bears, but it will be if he wants the job. Well, the Bears got a first-hand look at what Johnson could bring.

With the team up big in the third quarter, quarterback Jared Goff and running back Jahmyr Gibbs acted like they tripped. But Goff stood back up and hit a wide-open Sam LaPorta in the end zone for a touchdown.

As it turns out, Johnson and the Lions have to give the Green Bay Packers some credit for that unique play-call.

Lions trick play vs. Bears inspired by Packers

In September 2023, Packers quarterback Jordan Love accidentally fumbled the snap when trying to hand the football off to running back A.J. Dillon. Love picked the bobbled snap up looked downfield and found a wide-open Luke Musgrave downfield. Love connected with Musgrave for a huge 37-yard gain.

Johnson had this trick play up his sleeve for some time, and Goff revealed that the offensive coordinator asked him if he could fake a fumble and pull off a similar play as Love did last year. Johnson and the Lions called this play, "the stumblebum."

Head coach Dan Campbell gave props to Johnson for working with the offense to ensure they could pull that off on gameday.

"Ben, that was one of his brainchild's," Campbell said, h/t Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "It started that way, and then we massaged it and worked it and how do we make this thing better? And then just Goff and Gibby and LaPorta, the O-line making it work. So we cooked it all week, and they did a heck of a job. They really did.”

It is ironic that the Bears fell victim to this play twice in two years against two different NFC North rivals. If anything, it shows Johnson's creativity to turn an accidental play by the Packers into something they can utilize in their weekly game plan. Just imagine what Johnson could do with the Bears.

Even though the Bears sit firmly in the basement of the division standings, it should be an attrractive job for coaching candidates. First of all, they will have a young quarterback in Caleb Williams, who looked like a superstar during his time at USC. Not to mention that the Bears offense also features wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, and running back D'Andre Swift. There are a lot of pieces for a coach like Johnson to work with and build a winning offensive strategy.

ESPN's Courtney Cronin reports that Johnson is expected to interview for the Bears job in the offseason. It will be interesting to see if the team can sell him on jumping ship in the division to lead their team for the foreseeable future. Given the success the Lions offense has had in recent years, especially this season, he should receive plenty of offers.