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Once the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as their next head coach following the firing of Matt Eberflus, fans within the Chicagoland area were having a field day. And just a few days after the hire, Johnson was even asked what he’d do in a very familiar hypothetical situation for the Bears by Danny Parkins of Fox Sports, per Breakfast Ball on X.
“Totally hypothetical scenario,” Perkins prefaced. “You’re playing Detroit on Thanksgiving and your quarterback took a sack, and you had one time out, and you were out of field-goal range, and the clock was running down, and there was confusion everywhere— hypothetical situation, completely coming up with it on the top of my head — would you, A: let nothing happen and a wild Hail Mary that had no chance of winning? Or would you, B: help your quarterback out and call a timeout, again, hypothetically?”
After Parkins gave a brief build-up, Johnson immediately shut down the possible wildfire waiting to happen had he entertained the hypothetical.
“We’re not going there today,” Johnson said, sporting a smirk on his face. “We’re not going there.”
.@DannyParkins draws a VERY VERY specific hypothetical situation to Ben Johnson, but the Bears HC wasn't taking the bait
"We're not going there today." pic.twitter.com/Wo1aPANqct
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) January 23, 2025
Now, Johnson did make a timeout motion with his hands during the question, so it’s clear what he would’ve done in that situation. As a coach who comes into this Bears job without having been a head coach before, it was refreshing to see someone who has a strong football IQ answer the question correctly.
And while he ended the hypothetical after it was asked, his decision was still the right one: Call the timeout.
The hypothetical situation — that certainly wasn’t all too hypothetical — was the game in which Johnson got a front-row view of the dysfunction of the Bears before being hired.
In the game before his firing, Eberflus was in a spot to help Caleb Williams during a chaotic end-of-game situation. However, instead of using a timeout, Eberflus stood there with shock across his face, unsure of what to do.
Considering Johnson’s quick motion to the “timeout hands,” it’s clear what Johnson would do if presented with a similar situation.
The post Bears’ Ben Johnson hilariously shakes off Matt Eberflus hypothetical appeared first on ClutchPoints.
