No Ben Johnson, no problem? Lions say they ‘can beat anyone across from us’

Henry McKenna

NFL Reporter

The Detroit Lions are tired of it. 

Yes, they’re tired of losing in the playoffs. There’s obviously fatigue there. But they’re also exhausted by the question that keeps popping up at training camp. The stars have all heard it, from quarterback Jared Goff to tackle Penei Sewell to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Will there be a drop-off in the offense after losing Ben Johnson?

“With the guys that we have on offense, we’re pretty dominant. We feel like we can beat anyone across from us,” St. Brown said this week.

Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown isn’t backing away from high expectations even after the team lost its elite offensive coordinator. (Photo by Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

But how will things change with new OC John Morton?

“I get that question every day,” Goff said last week. “A lot of [the offense] is the same. Some of it is new. And there’s not that big of a gap between those two.

“[Morton] just sounds different in my ear. That’s probably it.”

Coach Dan Campbell has also heard this storyline on repeat, that the Lions won’t be as good without Johnson and former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

“It doesn’t matter what I say. It’s already been written,” Campbell said on the first day of training camp. “So that’s coming. That’s already a narrative. I’m not going to change that. None of us will. If you’re asking me personally, yeah, I don’t think it’s what it’s played out to be.”

Nobody asked me, but I’ll say what I think. It’s a big deal. 

That’s why everyone keeps asking.

Morton, 55, is more than capable. But few coaches have been as desirable as Johnson was when he left Detroit to fill the Chicago Bears head coaching vacancy. And that’s because the Lions scored 33.2 points per game last year, the most in the NFL. Johnson created a rare blend of meat-and-potatoes — posting the sixth-most rushing yards per game — with mind-bending and ostentatious trick plays.

Those are big shoes to fill. And we’ve seen brain-drain impact franchises that have enjoyed unique systematic success, from the New England Patriots to the Kansas City Chiefs to the Los Angeles Rams. It makes you wonder if the Lions might experience an offensive decline.

So that’s why the question seems to be on repeat in Detroit’s training camp.

Here’s another way of asking it: Despite the turnover, will Detroit be one of the elite offenses in football?

“I think so,” St. Brown said. “It’s early but when you have the guys that we have on offense — the quarterback, the weapons. It’s hard to not think you’re going to have a top offense.” 

Detroit’s depth chart is, in fact, absurd. That hasn’t changed. There’s St. Brown, Sewell, receiver Jameson Williams, tight end Sam Laporta and running backs Jamyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Goff is a bit of a lightning rod for discussion — is he elite? — but it’s hard to argue with his production last year: 4,629 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions. As is the case with some pocket passers, Goff seems to have more and more answers to the test as he matures.

No matter what offensive scheme the Lions are running, they’re a juggernaut.

But still, I have this question burning in the back of my mind.

How will things change under Morton?

“We’re running a lot of the same stuff. Some of the stuff’s different,” the 30-year-old quarterback said. “I try to bridge that gap from things we did last year to things we want to do this year and make sure everyone’s on the same page and making sure I’m doing a little bit extra. Making sure I’m all over it and can help on the field and can be that extension of the coaching staff that you want to be.”

Every year, teams self-scout. Every year, they tweak their playbook to make sure their offense doesn’t grow predictable. Goff contended that this offseason feels like any other — with alterations but not wholesale changes.

That stems from who Morton is and where he comes from.

For the past two years, Morton served as the Denver Broncos pass game coordinator. In 2022, he served as Detroit’s senior offensive assistant. At USC and for the Jets, Morton served as offensive coordinator. So he has experience calling plays. He has experience in Detroit’s system. And he has experience lighting up defenses.

Just look at what Broncos quarterback Bo Nix did last year. He threw for 3,775 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in a debut season that, frankly, stunned most folks outside of Denver. Coach Sean Payton drew most of the credit for Nix’s impressive year. But clearly, Morton was doing something right, because the Lions picked him to fill the offensive coordinator position that was the envy of almost every assistant coach in the NFL.

So let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth, shall we? (What will change?)

“I’m going to do what Dan — whatever he wants,” Morton said. “But we’re going to have everything [including trick plays]. We’re going to continue to do those things. Whatever was working, we’re going to continue to do that.”

One difference that reporters have seen on the field is an emphasis on the vertical passing attack. Williams is one of the fastest receivers in the NFL. Laporta and receiver Tim Patrick have large frames for 50-50 balls. And rookie wideout Isaac TeSlaa has freakish measureables. So in practice, there has been a whole lot of vertical work for those pass-catchers.

“We can get width and we can get depth into the defense,” Campbell said this week. “Now, it’s about making those plays. … That’s why you’re seeing a ton of these fades and go [routes]. We’re just trying to douse them right now from the quarterbacks to the receivers to make plays. So, yes, we have that ability.”

That’s where they’re hoping to expand schematically and from a play-calling standpoint. But there’s also a place where they’ll have to make changes from a personnel standpoint. Three-time All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired. Guard Will Fries left.

“My eyes are on the O-line,” Campbell said.

That’s the bedrock of the offense. The Lions will want to run the crap out of the ball again. They’ll start there and get their passing attack humming on the back of their ground game. And none of that works without an elite offensive line. And because the Lions won’t show their cards on how things are changing schematically during the preseason, their offensive line will be the unit to monitor during those games as they try to maintain their kneecap-biting culture. 

Johnson might be gone. But the Lions didn’t lose his playbook. Morton’s twist on the game plan will likely make or break Detroit’s Super Bowl hopes.

Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna. 

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