After three years coordinating one of the NFL’s best offenses, Ben Johnson left the Detroit Lions to coach the division rival Chicago Bears.
While no one reasonable will begrudge Johnson for taking a head coaching opportunity — it’s a huge step up for his professional career to lead another franchise — that doesn’t mean the Lions‘ players have to play nice with their former offensive coaching leader. All’s fair in some good-old-fashioned competition, you know?
After Caleb Williams threw an awful interception to Detroit safety Kerby Joseph while trying to play hero ball, Joseph referenced one of Johnson’s more famous play calls. During his pick celebration, Joseph broke out the famous “StumbleBum” play used to great effect by Jared Goff … ironically against the Bears last season.
It was a perfect way to bust Johnson’s chops while he fumed on the sideline about Williams’ terrible turnover:
Johnson would say the same of this sequence, to be fair. He’s going to be more frustrated with his player making a terrible play every single time, rather than lamenting his old team lightly making fun of him. Sometimes it’s just better to have a sense of humor about what is ultimately a game. It’s not worth taking yourself so seriously.
