Former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is currently preparing to face the Washington Commanders this week.
Last season, the Lions entered the playoffs riding high, having won the division for the second-straight season and earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC for the first time.
Johnson, now the head man with the Chicago Bears, was asked about the stunning loss, which prematurely ended Detroit’s promising 2024 season.
“I felt like within that setting, that as good as that Commanders offense was clicking, you know, you feel a little bit of pressure on offense to go score for score and you don’t want to fall behind by two scores against a good team like that,” Johnson said,” via Bears OnSI. “So, might have been a little bit more aggressive with the play calls and got away from the game plan a little bit based on how that game went.”
Supporters have expressed frustration that Johnson called a play that had wide receiver Jameson Williams throwing the football.
Unfortunately, the play resulted in another turnover, a costly interception with the Lions only trailing by 10 and still within striking distance.
Detroit had five turnovers, which was a vast difference from how the team performed during the regular season.
Johnson noted, “End of the day, you take care of the football, that game maybe goes a different direction.”
Head coach Dan Campbell was asked immediately following the game if he thought the offense got outside of themselves with the early deficit the team found themselves in.
“I didn’t feel that way. That’s something we’ve been really good at. We talked about it, hell, we made the point of it even today with where we were at,” Campbell said. “Talked about it early in the first half, talked about it at halftime, talked about coming out. Just don’t press, stay in the flow of the game, let the plays come to you. So I didn’t feel that way, you know.
“We just didn’t get it done. And, I wish I had a better answer,” Campbell explained further. “It’ll be something that I’m going to be – I’m going to have a lot of time here to really look at it and think about it, and figure it out, ‘How do we improve? What do we need to fix?’ The what’s, the why’s, the how’s, all of it.”
