Analyst rips Ben Johnson after letdown in final game with the Lions

Ben Johnson had a clunky finale with the Detroit Lions, and some of his decision making in the playoffs leaves Bomani Jones questioning his readiness as a head coach.

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Ben Johnson is now the Chicago Bears' head coach, leaving plenty of frustration for Detroit Lions fans in his wake.

Aside from the five turnovers which weren't his fault, Johnson didn't have the best night in the Lions' Divisional Round loss to the Washington Commanders. A trick play was ill-timed, the positive mojo that usually exists just wasn't there.

Johnson;'s performance also left Bomani Jones with a bad taste in his mouth, as he outlined on an episose of "The Right Time With Bomani Jones" earlier this week.

"I'm going to tell you right now, do not hire that man to be your head coach. I see that going as a disaster. I would have loved to have him back as the offensive coordinator after we sat him down and had a chat with him. Look, we've given him a lot of credit for those cool little trick plays. Y'all are down by 10. I think it was the fourth quarter. You call a pass, but it's not for your quarterback to throw the pass, it's for your receiver to throw the pass. Not just any receiver. The receiver that has shown us time and time again that in a league with George Pickens it is he who has the worst judgment in the NFL. What happened when you decided to have him throw the ball? He threw an interception off of his back foot. You entrusted a receiver who would dare throw an interception off his back foot with your season on the line? What kind of big brain (expletive) was that?"

The Lions piled up 521 yards of offense in the loss, but as Jones hinted it felt like empty calories considering a lack of sharpness in execution. Johnson's sloppiness left a lot to be desired and could cloud his future.

Bomani Jones questions Ben Johnson's lack of commitment to the run game

Entering the game, there was a question of if the Commanders' defense could stop Detroit's ground game. After allowing 201 yards and three touchdowns, the answer was no. Interestingly, Johnson still chose not to lean on the run during the second half and Jones noticed that.

"The other thing about big brain Ben, you get down two scores (and) I understand the feeling of impatience or we got to get something done. The way them boys is moving furniture and the way that (Jahmyr) Gibbs is running averaging like 10 yards a run? Give him the ball, man. Especially on a day where (Jared) Goff ain't got it and where you recognize early that you need to stop giving them possessions because Washington was playing excellently. You stop giving the possessions, but you can't slow down the number of possessions because you're behind. Okay, I get that. But big brain Ben, I really think that he ultimately did his team a bit of a disservice."

Gibbs had 14 carries and 20 touches against Washington, and a good argument can be made he needed to touch the ball far more. That decision-making, combined with an unnecessary flair for the dramatic, could make Johnson a risky head coaching hire.

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