The teacher vs. pupil matchup pitting Dan Campbell against Ben Johnson is one of those game-within-the-game things I look forward to seeing play out on Sunday when the Detroit Lions host the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
And while the teacher (in this case, Campbell) tends to worry about what their former student (in this case, Johnson) will pull out in order to topple their former mentor, that doesn’t seem to be the case heading into this matchup.
“We’ve got a menu, a very large menu of things,” Campbell said of the trick plays Johnson could conceivably pull out of his bag of tricks, via Pro Football Talk. “There can be anything. We’ll be good. You can’t sit there and paralyze yourself with what if, what if, what if. The most important thing is, you get in trouble if you can’t handle the nuts and bolts of an offense. If you can’t stop the run, we bleed out explosives, then that’s where you can get in trouble. I’m not worried about the other stuff.”
Dan Campbell also added that his focus is on playing a fundamentally sound game before worrying about getting caught up in trickeration. That is such a logical line of thinking that I don’t even have anything snarky to say about it. It happens too often when coaches get caught up in minor details when they should instead be focused on getting the basic things done right. This seems to be something Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson has brought with him to Chicago. Hopefully, it plays out as well for the Bears as it has for the Lions the last two years.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell pats quarterback Jared Goff on the shoulder before a play against the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Sunday, September 7, 2025 | © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesShould Dan Campbell worry about what Ben Johnson has up his sleeve?
I don’t blame Dan Campbell for not being overly concerned about the trick plays that Ben Johnson could deploy in Sunday’s game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. For starters, Campbell is already well-versed in what is in Johnson’s bag of tricks because Johnson was his offensive coordinator the last three seasons. If anyone knows about the trickery that Johnson could be cooking up for Sunday, it should be Campbell. But also, I’m not sure the Bears are ready to run much (if anything) from Johnson’s trick playbook.
As Patrick wrote on Thursday, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is still feeling his way through Ben Johnson’s new offense. And, frankly, so is everyone else on that side of the ball. It is hard to justify running trick plays when the offense is still struggling to get the basics down. So long as Chicago’s offense keeps racking up procedural and pre-snap penalties, the trick plays will be an afterthought.
“None of it can be done unless the fundamentals are hammered home,” Johnson said back in January.
And for Dan Campbell, I imagine that news comes with a sigh of relief.
With that being said, it sounds like Bears players are ready to use Detroit’s own plays against the Lions in Week 2.
“It’s going to be a lively one,” said wide receiver Rome Odunze during an appearance with Kay Adams on the “Up & Adams Show” back in August. “It’s at Detroit. It’s going to be a warm welcome, and we’re going to get after it a little bit with them same plays we’re gonna be running.”
I was going to say that I hope that Dan Campbell is ready for whatever is coming. But honestly, I hope the Lions are ill-prepared and still stung from the loss at Green Bay to be focused on the Bears this week.
Aug 10, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson on the sidelines against the Miami Dolphins during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesHence then, the article about dan campbell isn t worried about ben johnson s bag of tricks was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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