When he was the offensive coordinator for the Lions, Ben Johnson became famous for trick plays, perhaps the most popular of which was called “Stumblebum,” in which the quarterback and running back both pretend there was a fumble in the backfield to draw the defense’s attention, only for the quarterback to throw the ball downfield.
As head coach of the Bears, Johnson called the play again today. It didn’t work.
In the second quarter today against the Raiders, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams took the snap and pretended to stumble, just as Lions quarterback Jared Goff did when they ran the play last year. But while Goff threw a touchdown on the play, Williams couldn’t find anyone open downfield and threw an incomplete pass.
The Raiders appeared not to be fooled by the play and had likely prepared for it, knowing that Johnson had called it with the Lions last year. Williams and running back D’Andre Swift also didn’t sell the attempt to make it look like Williams had stumbled and fumbled as well as Goff and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs sold it when they ran it successfully last year.
Thus far in his head-coaching career, Johnson has failed to recreate the offensive magic he found in Detroit.