There might be more of the same drudgery on the way for the Bears when they visit the Lions, the NFL’s best team, on Thursday. But it’s worth watching not only for the potential ongoing growth of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, but because their next head coach might be on the other sideline.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been among the most in-demand candidates over the last two hiring cycles for good reason, and he’ll go into the upcoming offseason as the consensus best option for any team that’s looking.
That almost certainly will include the Bears, who have watched their playoff ambition deteriorate under Matt Eberflus. He’s on a five-game losing streak heading into Detroit, has a 14-31 record and has frequently undermined the team with embarrassing missteps. His 3-14 mark in 2022 can be attributed largely to the burn-down phase of general manager Ryan Poles’ rebuild, but going 11-17 since is largely a mess of his own making.
Even excluding the tank season, every Eberflus split the last two seasons is nauseating:
– 2-11 on the road
– 2-6 in the NFC North
– 1-12 against teams that finished with a winning record in 2023 and teams that have one currently
The list could go on endlessly.
His approval rating already was shrinking at the end of last season, and there was a strong argument against Poles bringing him back — especially with the reboot at quarterback virtually inevitable. It would have made all the sense in the world to bring in an offensive-minded head coach to pair with Williams, the incoming No. 1 overall draft pick.
And perhaps that enticement would’ve been enough to lure Johnson, who was sought after by six teams and rebuffed them all to stay with the Lions.
“Something that really resonates with me is, OK, eight openings this past year… There’s a good chance five of them are out of jobs in three years,” Johnson told the Detroit Free-Press in May. “If I get the opportunity to go down that road, how do I get to that second contract? How do I set myself up? The stars need to align.
“I’m not going to do it just to do it. I love what I’m doing right now. Love it. Love it. I love where I’m at… so I’m not willing to go down the other path yet unless I feel really good about how it’s going to unfold.”
He knows how precious his window is and he’s waiting for the right job, and this one sure seems like it’d be compelling to anybody. Eberflus is fumbling an opportunity that his peers are desperate to get.
So while the Bears likely will repeat their dysfunctional cycle of a new coach inheriting the old quarterback, this time should be different because Williams is so promising. Matt Nagy might not have been thrilled about getting Mitch Trubisky in 2018, and Eberflus and Luke Getsy weren’t a good fit for Justin Fields when they came aboard in 2022, but there should be a line out the door at Halas Hall of coaches wanting to get “stuck” with Williams.
One of those coaches probably will be current offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, and he absolutely deserves consideration if he maintains what he did in his first two games over the rest of the season. The Bears can take the next six games to get the full picture on Brown.
But whatever the options are, they urgently need to get it right. And as it stands currently, Johnson is the best available.
Johnson, 38, got the Lions offensive coordinator job in 2022 coming off their 3-13-1 season and has been essential to their turnaround. They jumped from 25th to fifth in scoring his first season, finished fifth again last season and presently lead the NFL at 32.7 points per game.
“There will be some wrinkles that he’ll throw at us,” Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington warned. “There will be some things that are trademarks and hallmarks of what they like to do, but with this particular coordinator we have to be ready for some things that could be described as outliers.”
Quarterback Jared Goff, the 2016 No. 1 pick once thought to be bound for journeyman life, has been a star in Detroit under Johnson. He’s having a career year with a 109.9 passer rating and is an MVP contender.
The only real downside for the Bears is that they might have to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire Johnson. The Lions are that good. And so is he.