Sean McVay has game-planned against Ben Johnson before, when Johnson was the Lions’ offensive coordinator.
But Sunday’s matchup between the Rams and Bears will be the first contest between the two as head coaches.
Asked what stands out about Johnson as a play-caller during his Monday news conference, McVay said he thinks Johnson does a great job.
“I’ve studied him really closely from when he took over and started doing it in Detroit,” McVay said. “I think the guys that do the best job are the ones that you can see there’s a true understanding of what defenses are doing and an intent to try to be able to manipulate a lot of the rules and the coaching points and to really try to attack your front mechanics, your coverage contours, understand some of the percentages of what you’re doing situationally, and then being able to maximize his player skill sets. You could see there’s a philosophy and core beliefs in terms of how he wants to build it.
“You look at the four free agents they signed, you look at the guys that they drafted high up, taking the tight end [Colston Loveland] and in a lot of the instances where he was able to take advantage of [Sam] LaPorta in Detroit.”
McVay specifically noted how Johnson has been able to create systems that are based on quarterbacks with different skillsets.
“I think what shows his flexibility is the ability to have one of the best offenses with a player like Jared [Goff] who’s really special and then being able to have some similar foundational principles with Caleb [Williams], but also be able to accentuate the things that make him really unique with the athleticism, the ability to move the spot and then take advantage of their skill around it,” McVay said. “He does a damn good job. I think he’s got a timely feel for wanting to be able to mix in some things like he did with the screen and go that allowed them to take the lead the other day.
“We’re excited about these challenges. This is what it’s about.”
