Ben Johnson initially comes across as your classic throwback coach. He is interested in physical, violent football built around a run-first mentality. He wants to own the line of scrimmage and impose his will on the opponent. However, that would make you think he’s somewhat conservative by nature. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are few coaches more aggressive and daring than the Chicago Bears‘ leader. That is especially true when it comes to cooking up plays.
Johnson has earned a reputation over the past four years as one of the most creative minds in the sport when it comes to gadget plays. Normally, he doesn’t show those things in public practices, but apparently, he made an exception on Thursday against the Titans. He hit Tennessee with not one but two trick plays.
The first looked like a stretch handoff to the right side, only for the running back to throw the ball back to quarterback Caleb Williams, who fired it to a wide-open Colston Loveland.
The other came in a goal-line drill. Williams was under center in a jumbo formation. He fakes a hand off to Kyle Monangai and then fakes a reverse toss to wide receiver Kalif Raymond. At the same time, Cole Kmet sells a block before leaking into the end zone, where Williams found him wide open for the score.
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Ben Johnson must be pretty confident if he’s doing that.
One can only imagine how big his binder of trick plays actually is if he’s throwing a double pass and a double-fake reverse out there for everybody to see. Then again, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Johnson has long come across as somebody confident enough in his creativity not to sweat other teams maybe noticing one or two things about his offense. Besides, one must remember who we’re dealing with. Nobody is better at baiting opponents than Johnson. His favorite thing to do is show you a certain formation and run the same play from it several times, then run something completely different from the same formation when you aren’t expecting it.
It’s possible Ben Johnson ran those two gadget plays to let all of the other teams watching, and he knows they are, see the formations used. This way, when the Bears show those formations in the upcoming games, defenses will immediately deploy countermeasures to defend those trick plays—just one problem. Johnson will have a trap laid where the ball doesn’t go where they’re expecting. Only a sicko like him would lay such a land mine in a joint practice during the preseason.
Much more craziness is still to come.
Johnson knows that games and even seasons can sometimes pivot on successfully executed trick plays. Everybody remembers the famous flea flicker touchdown to Luther Burden against Dallas. This head coach doesn’t do this stuff just for the fun of it. He understands the power trick plays can hold. The hard part is learning when to deploy them and how to execute them correctly. There have been many instances over the past decade in which the Bears wasted a prime opportunity due to poor execution.
Whatever the case, don’t expect Johnson to lean on smoke and mirrors. The trick plays are merely another layer to his offensive attack. The Bears will stick to what they do well. Run the ball, play action, and attack down the field. It worked for them last year. It will work for them again. The gadgets play like seasoning on a fine steak. Only meant to enhance the flavor.
