After bragging about culture for three years with Matt Eberflus, it became evident the former Chicago Bears head coach didn’t have the personality to hold a locker room together. Much of that came from his constant inability to handle end-of-game situations, constantly costing his team victories. Players lost faith in him. That is why GM Ryan Poles was forced to fire him. He knew the team needed a culture shock with whoever the next guy was. That was how the Bears landed on Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Some people were skeptical. Nobody doubts the man is an offensive wizard. He should be great at developing Caleb Williams. However, they wonder if he has charisma and a single-minded purpose to grab the attention of players as a leader. Veteran offensive lineman Dan Skipper was around to watch Johnson’s rise in Detroit. He knows exactly the type of coach the Bears are getting, and he sent a warning to the players via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN. Stay out of his way if you know what’s good for you.
Ben Johnson is the jolt this team needs.
It is evident from watching him that he is big on details. Every player is required to know their exact responsibilities from play to play. If they don’t execute with proper precision, he will let them know it. That may sound harsh, but football isn’t called a game of inches for no reason. The smallest mistakes can have devastating consequences. That is why the best head coaches often don’t let the little things slide. Don’t expect to spend much time on the field if you’re not on top of things on every play.
Ben Johnson brings that to the table. Eberflus had a bad tendency to let things slide. Players complained about it this past season, saying guys were too lax in practice about the little things. That won’t fly under this head coach. Johnson will root those players out right away, which might explain why his agent hinted there could be more roster turnover than fans are expecting. It was the same thing that happened with Mike Ditka all those years ago. Only those ready to put in the work will stay.
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Jim Jones, DJ’s YAC all happened on a handful of bubble screen passes. There were no slant patterns all year! And TGena is totally correct about the attitude this year with DJ not doing the dirty work. I was at several games this year and actually saw Keenan making some solid blocks on run plays and saw none from DJ. St. Brown is easily a top 5 receiver in the league and he makes blocks all fucking day! If DJ works hard like St. Brown, we are going to see a top 10 receiver in DJ
@jim Jones —
Did you see Team Captain DJ Moore walk off the field, last year all “up in his feelings?”
Did you see him dog it throughout games.
Watch Amon-Ra St. Brown playing hard throughout games; blocking for teammates never quitting — no matter what.
If DJ Moore plays like that, he could be an All-Pro WR.
But DJ is about DJ. And, that shit shows itself — sooner or later.
DJ’s got to set his course.
We’ll all know soon enough.
Uh, DJ Moore was 6th in the NFL in YAC last year after being 11th the year before. Points at stats in confusion to what some of you are watching Giner. 100%.
The blocking? Agree with Citizen. A player that can catch one and break 20? That’s exactly the player DJ is today. That’s exactly his game today. I am confused at that one.
@citizen34 —
100% — on every point.
We’ve been watching the 2024 Chicago Bears play.
I’m not sure what team some of the others have been viewing.
This is DJ’s year to prove it for sure. When you watch great teams play offense, you see a stud receiver catching a slant over the middle in a cleared out zone and getting 20 yards after the catch. The Bears never have that. The one thing that DJ has to get his shit together on is actually blocking on a running play or when some other receive catches the ball. I did not see that at all from him this last year and you know Ben requires that. Sweat has a prove-it year for sure, but he faced double… Read more »