Is Ben Johnson the best hire of the recent NFL head coaching cycle?
Most would say yes, but Moe Moton of Bleacher Report has a different opinion. There is a clear tier among the three top coaches so far, and while you can argue for each one, his recent grades make Johnson a clear third, with Mike Vrabel and Liam Coen tied at the top.
To be fair to Moton, he did give Johnson an A- as a hire. However, most Bears fans will be miffed about the minus. They are going to be even more annoyed when they see that Coen and Vrabel got straight-up As. The reason is that the Bears have not yet won a big division game.
"Johnson gets an A-minus for now with some concern over the Bears' record against NFC North opponents, but he's a divisional win and a shirtless celebration away from an A."Moe Moton
Was Ben Johnson slighted in recent new-hire coaching grades?
On the surface, this is fair. Jacksonville has division wins, and the Patriots are 1-1 against the Buffalo Bills. Yes, the Bears did beat the Minnesota Vikings, but they are currently 0-2 against Green Bay and Detroit. This seems a bit unfair considering the Packers were Super Bowl contenders, and favorites by some before Micah Parsons went down, and the Lions beat Chicago in Week 2.
Meanwhile, the Colts are falling apart, and the Texans lost to the Jags just as early in the season. Houston beat Jacksonville in the second matchup, just like Buffalo beat New England in the second matchup. Johnson is being dinged because the Jags and Patriots played their top division rival twice, and the Bears played their two contenders once.
That is not great reasoning.
The reality is that all three have been great. Nobody expected the Chicago Bears to be 10-4 with three games to play. Even if the Bears finished 10-7, it would be an impressive first season for a head coach.
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Sure, an A- is not a bad grade, but it does not make sense when you consider the Jaguars have the same record and a more established quarterback, and yet Coen is given a better grade and more benefit of the doubt. New England has one more in an easier division. If you wanted to say all three are graded the same, that is one thing. It seems like a slight to give Johnson a worse grade than the other two.