Despite the free agency frenzy of the past month, the biggest splash of the offseason remains the Chicago Bears' hiring of Ben Johnson. The most coveted head coaching candidate in the league decided to take the Bears' job, ushering in a new era in Chicago.
During his time with the Lions, Johnson led the offense to historic heights. He was able to cook up highly prolific offenses without an elite quarterback and made a name for himself as arguably the best offensive play-caller in the league.
While many around the league expect the Lions to take a step back offensively, head coach Dan Campbell doesn't think so. If anything, he undersold the impact Johnson had in Detroit in his latest remarks. Per Richard Silva of The Detroit News, Campbell said, "The players are the ones who make [the offense] what it is. That's our playbook, those guys."
"This is a Detroit Lion offense, is what it is. ... This offense is Jared Goff, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Jahmyr) Gibbs, (David) Montgomery," Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL's annual league meetings. "It's Frank (Ragnow); it's (Penei) Sewell; it's (Taylor) Decker. I can keep (going). It's (Jameson Williams). ... That's what we are."Dan Campbell
While this can be interpreted as Campbell being his usual self, highlighting the level of confidence he has in his players, it can also be read as throwing Johnson under the bus.
Over the last few months, Campbell and Johnson have been complimentary of each other. Even though they will be facing each other twice a season as bitter NFC North rivals, the two head coaches had nothing but positive things to say about one another.
At the same time, this seemingly harmless statement clearly doesn't give Johnson enough credit for what he has accomplished in Detroit. Whether Campbell is right about this will be made obvious once we see how the Lions offense compares to last season.