Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson got to see one of his possible destinations on Sunday. If the Chicago Bears were auditioning for Johnson — fairly, it’s not the other way around — then it didn’t go well.
The Bears were supposed to be competitive this season. Instead, they’re an embarrassment. The Bears haven’t won since Oct. 13, and they were no match for the Lions on Sunday. Detroit didn’t look like a team with massive injury issues in blowing out the Bears 34-17. That’s Chicago’s ninth straight loss.
There was a report Sunday from NFL Media that Johnson is interested in the Bears job. While there are good reasons for him to want the job, starting with the upside of this year’s first overall draft pick Caleb Williams, there are also reasons for him or any other candidate to be skeptical.
The Bears are a bad franchise. They haven’t won a Super Bowl since the 1985 season. Since 2010, they haven’t won a playoff game, have made the postseason only twice and have won the division just once. They somehow have never had a 4,000-yard passer in a season and that’s not just bad luck. They have done a remarkably poor job developing talent through the years. They made the regrettable choice after last season to retain head coach Matt Eberflus due to a hot streak late in the year, which cost them a shot at a good crop of coaching candidates that included former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Eberflus was fired after a loss on Thanksgiving this year. That’s not surprising considering the Bears make missteps at every turn.
If Johnson comes, there’s risk involved. He is a very good play-caller but has never been a head coach. He’d be worth the risk, though. If Johnson, who should have multiple options, decides against Chicago then it gets harder to figure out who would want the job. The Bears would have to sell the Williams part of the gig hard, and it’s not like Williams has looked like a sure thing this season. He has talent and has flashed it at times, but he has also struggled and can’t get out of the habit of trying to do too much on every play. It’s arguable he’s the third or fourth best rookie quarterback this season. There’s work to be done.
We probably overrated the Bears’ supporting cast coming into the season as well. The offensive line is a mess. The defense was completely overrated after last season’s solid start. Chicago gave up 474 yards on Sunday, and it could have been more if the game was more competitive.
The man orchestrating that offense is Johnson. He got a good chance this week to see the Bears’ flaws up close. The question is, after seeing all the work the Bears need to do to finally be a competitive team, is that still his preferred option?
Here are the winners and losers from Week 16 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Justin Jefferson: When the Minnesota Vikings were on the ropes Sunday, Jefferson saved them.
Jefferson had a huge game, and his 39-yard touchdown prevented an upset loss and allowed Minnesota to keep pace with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North. The Seahawks took a 24-20 lead late in the fourth quarter before Jefferson answered with a nice touchdown grab to retake the lead. The Vikings held the Seahawks to a 60-yard field-goal attempt with about two minutes left, which was short. The Seahawks’ last chance ended quickly with a Geno Smith interception and the Vikings held on to the 27-24 win
Jefferson had 10 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings are a surprising 13-2, and a big reason for that is having one of the best players in the world to throw it to.
James Cook: The Buffalo Bills were losing 14-0 to the New England Patriots when Cook made the big play to wake them up.
Cook’s 46-yard touchdown run was the first sign of life from the Bills on Sunday. Cook scored again on a 4-yard touchdown catch from Josh Allen to tie the game, and the Bills went on to win 24-21 in a game that was probably closer than they wanted.
Cook has become a big part of the Bills’ offense since the middle of last season, and he adds a playmaking element in the run game that takes pressure off of Allen.
Allen is the key for Buffalo, but the Bills will also need more big plays and performances from Cook next month to make a deep playoff push.
Jayden Daniels: All precincts have reported. The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year race is officially over.
Daniels isn’t just going to be the winner of that award, he’ll be a signature part of the entire 2024 season. He led another dramatic Washington win on Sunday, with five passing touchdowns, including one to Jamison Crowder with six seconds left to upset the Philadelphia Eagles 36-33. The Eagles didn’t have Jalen Hurts for most of the game, but that has little to do with Daniels torching what had been the hottest defense in the NFL.
That’s a massive outcome for the Lions, who are now ahead of the Eagles by a game in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. The Eagles probably could have put the game away late, but DeVonta Smith had a massive drop on third down with about two minutes left. The Eagles settled for a field goal after that, which opened the door for Daniels’ heroics.
Daniels is having a remarkable rookie season we’ll remember for a long time. That season looks like it will carry on into the postseason, too.
Jonathan Taylor: This time, Taylor held onto the ball. All the way into the tunnel.
Taylor broke a 65-yard touchdown and the Indianapolis Colts had some fun with it. Last week in Denver, Taylor dropped the ball a split-second before he scored, nullifying a sure touchdown. This time he ran into the tunnel with the ball, and then when he emerged, his teammates tried to rip the ball away but he wouldn’t let go. Then to start the second half, Taylor broke a 70-yard touchdown run. Taylor had 218 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-30 win over the Tennessee Titans. If your fantasy team with Taylor survived last week, Taylor probably brought you to the finals with his outburst on Sunday.
Taylor is one of the NFL’s elite running backs and he had a bad, regrettable moment last week. He bounced back from it well in Week 16.
Kyren Williams: When the Los Angeles Rams want to win an ugly game, they know they have a running back who will grind out tough yards.
Sunday wasn’t easy. The Rams’ pass game was mostly shut down against the New York Jets, so they decided it would be on Williams and the defense to win the game. That worked, with Williams picking up 122 rushing yards and a touchdown and the defense mostly shutting down the Jets in a 19-9 win.
The Rams are still looking good for the NFC West title. A big part of their success is Williams, a true workhorse in an age of running back committees. On Saturday vs. the Cardinals, the Rams might go back to riding Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp and the passing game. But they can win with Williams carrying the load too.
LOSERS
Las Vegas Raiders, in a win: Winning is good for teams, especially one that hadn’t experienced a victory since Sept. 29. However, the Raiders’ 19-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars has some ramifications that will be felt in April.
The Raiders got another huge game from Brock Bowers, who had 11 catches for 99 yards. But who will be throwing him the ball next season? The Raiders will likely draft a quarterback, but they might have missed a chance to pick first in the NFL Draft by winning Sunday. The New York Giants are the lone two-win team left in the NFL and they don’t look like they have any chance of winning the rest of the season. The Raiders are 3-12 after the win.
The Raiders’ win could be a problem when the draft order is set. It could cost them a shot at their preferred quarterback. But in their locker room this week, life will be better.
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers were eliminated from the playoffs before they kicked off on Sunday. Then they played like a team that didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs anyway.
The 49ers fell short again, losing 29-17 at the Miami Dolphins. That pushes their record to 6-9, ensuring San Francisco a losing season. Nobody saw that coming before the season started.
The 49ers had no running game with their myriad of RB injuries. Brock Purdy played pretty well but he threw a crucial interception under pressure in the last two minutes that practically sealed the win for Miami. De’Von Achane really ended it with a 50-yard touchdown run after that.
The 49ers will regroup in the offseason. The offeseason can’t come quickly enough for them.
Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals went from looking like the NFC West’s best team to out of the playoffs in a hurry.
The Cardinals are eliminated from the playoff race with two weeks to go. Chuba Hubbard broke a 28-yard run in overtime and followed that up with a 21-yard touchdown run to lead a Carolina Panthers 36-30 win over the Cardinals in overtime.
The Cardinals’ defense had played well most of the season but let down in a big way on Sunday. Kyler Murray has had an inconsistent season and couldn’t come through with a game-winning drive when the Cardinals had the ball in overtime.
Arizona still has a promising future, and showed at times this season why it should be a dangerous team. But how the Cardinals fell apart late this season won’t be a good way to enter the offseason.
Drew Lock and all of the 2024 Giants: If you’re a New York Giants fan, you’ve watched enough bad football for a lifetime this season.
The Giants found new new depths to this miserable season. Lock started on Sunday and threw two pick 6s. One went to Jessie Bates III when Lock made an awful pass. The second one wasn’t completely on Lock, but his pass was tipped at the line and caught by Matthew Judon, who took it in for a score. New Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had a productive first start, aided by a terrible Giants defense, and Atlanta won 34-7. It’s the Giants’ 10th straight loss, a franchise record.
The only positive for the Giants this season is all of this miserable football might result in the first pick of the draft. Even that’s a dubious gift because there doesn’t seem to be a quarterback prospect worth the first pick this season. Though one will be drafted there. The Giants can’t suffer through this type of mess at quarterback for another season.
Denver Broncos: The Broncos did not have a good Week 16.
The Broncos lost on Thursday and then watched the Cincinnati Bengals destroy the Cleveland Browns 24-6. The Bengals’ defense has been a problem most of the season, but the Browns insist on giving Dorian Thompson-Robinson chances at quarterback, and that fixed a lot of Cincy’s issues. Thompson-Robinson struggled, as he has in almost all of his other NFL action, and the Bengals won.
That win matters in the AFC wild-card race. The Bengals are 7-8 and face the 9-6 Broncos in Cincinnati on Saturday. If the Bengals win that, it puts pressure on Denver to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18. The Broncos are still OK in the wild-card picture, but the Bengals are suddenly very much alive with two games to go.
