We’ve told you over and over that Ben Johnson is a psychopath. Other coaches may study film as much as he does, but nobody studies more. That is a fact. The man is obsessed with finding an edge over the opponent. It doesn’t matter how small the detail is. That was on display Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. It felt like he had an answer for everything on offense. Every blitz Vic Fangio threw saw quarterback Case Keenum find an open receiver. Every audible Jalen Hurts called saw a Chicago Bears defender waiting in the passing lane.
However, the most ridiculous moment came in the second half. Chicago had built a 27-7 lead, but Philadelphia was mounting a late charge with 6 minutes left. After plays of 13 and 20 yards to open the drive, it looked like Hurt hit wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks for 18 more to get deep into Bears territory. It was then that Johnson challenged the ruling of a catch, which was eventually overturned as incomplete.
Just a good eye, right?
Further review of the footage suggests that Johnson was tipped off by a hand signal from Wicks, one that the Eagles have used for years that supposedly indicates the receiver knows the pass was incomplete.
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The Eagles failed to learn their lesson against Ben Johnson.
You would’ve thought that after facing him last year, the team would have grown wise to his ability to spot tendencies in how they operated. Instead, the Eagles seemed to trust in their roster talent to carry them through as it has so many times before. That was a colossal mistake. Johnson is the kind of coach who knows how to stress you from every angle. He’s done it for years on offense. Since becoming a head coach, he’s learned how to do it on defense and special teams as well. There is no escaping his maniacal preparation.
Last year, he recognized that the Eagles’ defense was soft against the run and proceeded to exploit it for 281 yards. This season, it was their vulnerability over the middle in the passing game. That is why you saw big nights from both Kalif Raymond and Luther Burden. As great as Fangio is, he’s not going to stop someone like Ben Johnson from finding weaknesses. That is why it fell on the Eagles’ offense to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, the tape preparation was evident there, too.
Jalen Hurts hasn’t been good against the blitz this season. That is probably why the Bears sent extra guys at him 12 times during the game. He finished 4-of-11 for 48 yards and an interception.
This is an advantage the Bears haven’t had before.
Sure, previous head coaches worked hard on preparation. Yet none of them seemed to truly understand how to take full advantage of what they found. Johnson is on a rare level. He’s up there with Bill Belichick and Joe Gibbs for finding small details others miss and waiting for the perfect time to exploit them. There is a benefit to employing somebody with an analytic mind like that. The Bears have admitted they didn’t entirely know what they were getting when they pursued Johnson for the job.
If they had, they probably would’ve doubled his salary.
One thing is for sure. He has a massive pay bump coming his way when the time comes. Johnson has turned the Bears into one of the toughest types of teams to face. Not just talented across the board, but well-prepared and motivated. That is what great head coaches can do for you. The Eagles found out for the second time on Monday night. Future opponents better tighten up their operations.
