Despite the Lions’ 45-31 loss in Saturday night’s divisional round clash to the Commanders, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson showed why he’s one of the top head coaching candidates – as one play left Tom Brady stunned on FOX.
The former quarterback, of course, is also a minority owner of the Raiders, who have interviewed Johnson and have been hotly linked to the 38-year-old for their head coaching vacancy.
And after the Lions ran a highly-creative play to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Brady was left hugely impressed.
‘What?! I’ve never seen that in my life!’ he exclaimed after the receiver received a shovel pass from running back David Montgomery, who had been pitched the ball himself.
And given that Brady himself sat in on the Raiders’ interview of Johnson, many fans had the same reaction to the moment.
‘The Las Vegas Raiders are hiring Ben Johnson as their new head coach, league sources tell ESPN,’ one wrote on X facetiously.
Tom Brady beamed about one of Ben Johnson’s play calls on Saturday night
Johnson has interviewed for the Raiders’ head coaching job and is considered a top coaching candidate in this cycle
‘That’s my head coach,’ one Raiders fan said.
NBC10 sports anchor John Clark also chimed in.
‘Pretty wild Tom Brady is calling this game and can hire Ben Johnson to be the next head coach of the Raiders,’ he said.
While the shovel pass to St. Brown led to a 20-yard gain, another trick play went horribly wrong later in the second half.
That time, St. Brown received a handoff from Goff before pitching it back to Jameson Williams to be thrown downfield, but the receiver forced a pass to Jahmyr Gibbs and was picked off.
The Commanders then drove down the field and scored to bring their lead to 17 points – which would prove too much for the Lions to come back from.
In the first quarter, Brady’s FOX broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt acknowledged the elephant in the room and asked his colleague what he took away from sitting in on coaching interviews with Johnson as Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as well.
‘It’s just been a great learning experience. What you realize, the league’s full of great potential,’ he began, refusing to divulge any information specific to Johnson or Glenn.
‘And what I believe, the resumes, the accolades, they’re all earned by what people do on the field.’
