It's nice to hear when a division rival is struggling in training camp, but it's even better when it comes to Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson having a direct effect on the Detroit Lions.
Johnson spent six seasons with the Lions, with three of them as the offensive coordinator. Each year as offensive coordinator, Johnson's Lions were top five in total offense and points per game.
With his departure from Detroit to become the Bears' head coach, everyone knew there would be struggles with the Lions' new offensive coordinator, John Morton. Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown admitted as much when he spoke about some of the early issues with Morton and the offense.
“We feel like as an offense maybe this camp there has beenas an offense,” St. Brown said, via the team’s website and Pro Football Talk. “But I think that’s normal. You got new coaches and different moving parts and you’re going against a really good defense every day. Things can get tough. But for us as an offense, we know the ability that we have, the playmakers we have, the quarterback we have, the O-line, so it’s just a matter of time for us. Keep getting better and improving is the name of the game for us right now.”
Bears glad to have Johnson's offensive mind while setting the Lions back
It was generally a rough offseason for the Lions as they lost both coordinators to head coaching positions elsewhere. New coordinators are leading to the Lions needing time to get used to each other, with the organization stating that not much is going to change with the offensive play calling.
Admittedly, the Bears are going through some of those growing pains with Johnson retooling the offense. Despite the negative publicity of some of the struggles in camp, the Bears are in a much better position to succeed than the Lions entering the new season.
Johnson was the creative mind behind what the Lions and now the Bears will run, but what got him the head coaching job was his development of Detroit quarterback Jared Goff and the timing of his calls. It takes time to learn when to call the right plays and to get the quarterback to run the offense how the coach wants him to.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is learning this lesson the hard way, but the best way possible. Johnson's hard coaching and throwing everything at Williams are helping the young signal caller improve at learning the offense, so his natural abilities can take over once the mental part of the job is figured out.
Detroit is more likely to take a step up in 2025 than the Bears are. Chicago has everything needed to make a dramatic improvement from the team's 5-12 record in 2024. The Lions' window to winning the Super Bowl is either almost closed or is already with the changes made.
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The Bears have a chance to jump in and surprise people in the NFC North and overtake the Lions after two years of dominating the division.