Yahoo Sports How Bears inspired Lions OC Ben Johnson on trick play in Week 16
If a fake fumble play is considered a "fumblerooski", is a fake stumble play a "stumblerooski"? That's what the Detroit Lions and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson unleashed against the Chicago Bears on Sunday as part of their 34-17 win.
Early in the third quarter, Lions quarterback Jared Goff appeared to stumble while running back Jahmyr Gibbs hit the ground. Goff regained his composure and found tight end Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard touchdown, who had burst past Bears defenders.
At first glance, it seemed as if the Lions got away with a botched play. But it turns out it was all by design, and the idea unfortunately originated because of the Bears themselves.
Some nice trickery by the Lions and Jared Goff finds Sam LaPorta in the end zone! 🙌
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/h2XgcOKFWa— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 22, 2024
After the game, ESPN's Kalyn Kahler spoke with the Lions about the play, and they revealed the idea originated from Week 1 of the 2023 season between the Bears and Green Bay Packers. In that game, Packers quarterback Jordan Love dropped the snap, regained control of the ball, and found tight end Luke Musgrave all by himself down the left sideline for a big play. Johnson used that as inspiration, installed it, and used it against these same Bears down the same sideline.
The Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs coordinated trip on the LaPorta TD play is called “stumble bum” and it WAS a designed trip, inspired by a play Ben Johnson saw of Jordan Love actually dropping the snap vs Chicago and pulling off a big pass.
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) December 22, 2024
Ben Johnson saw this happen against the Bears, designed a play based on it, and unleashed it against the Bears the next season.
That's diabolical. https://t.co/8iRekCH7sK— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) December 22, 2024
Over the last couple of seasons, Johnson has become one of the brightest offensive minds in the game and is considered the hottest head coaching candidate going into the offseason. While leading Detroit's offense to top finishes in the league, he has always shown a knack for creating trick plays. This one, however, felt like a direct signal to the Bears' front office that he's the right man for Chicago's head coaching vacancy. Especially after he's reportedly "intrigued" by the job.
Johnson's Lions are poised to make a deep playoff run, so any head coaching decisions will need to take a backseat. Still, he's the name to watch when interviews begin. Perhaps he'll personally share the "stumblerooski" play story with the front office themselves.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: How Bears inspired Lions OC Ben Johnson on trick play in Week 16
