One reason to watch Bears on Thanksgiving: Lions OC Ben Johnson could replace Matt Eberflus
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, and he’ll go into the offseason as the consensus best option for any team that’s looking.
That almost certainly will include the Bears, who have watched their playoff ambitions deteriorate under Matt Eberflus. He’s on a five-game losing streak, 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 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 pursued by six teams and rebuffed them all.
“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. 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’s wise to wait for the right job, and this one sure seems like it would interest 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. 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’ 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 in his first season, finished fifth again last season and lead the NFL at 32.7 points per game this season.
“There will be some wrinkles that he’ll throw at us,” Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington warned. “There will be some trademarks and hallmarks of what they like to do. But with this particular coordinator, we have to be ready for some outliers.”
Quarterback Jared Goff, the 2016 No. 1 pick once thought to be a disappointment, 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.