That’s a nice consolation prize for the Lions. They may have bungled the NFC Championship game, but offensive coordinator Ben Johnson says he’s going to stick around for another year. That’s huge.
Two years in a row the Lions have ranked 5th in scoring, and Johnson has been a big part of that success. They’ve got some nice young talent and a great offensive line, but he’s the 37-year-old offensive coordinator who stitches it all together. He’s probably one of the top half dozen play callers and offensive designers in the game – an up-and-comer who may develop into another Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay or Andy Reid.
Johnson was talking with the Seahawks and Commanders. Had he taken one of those jobs, it would have set up the Lions to run into some of the same problems the Eagles encountered in the just-completed season, when they weren’t the same without Shane Steichen.
There are still issues to figure out. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jared Goff and Penei Sewell are all entering the final years of their contracts and presumably looking for new deals. As they get more expensive, it gets harder to build a well-round roster. But at least the variable of a big decline in play-calling has been removed.
I like to trot out some numbers on these things. Below see the last 45 offenses who ranked in the top 5 in scoring in back-to-back seasons. The third column showed how those teams then did in their next season.
Twenty of those 45 teams again ranked in the top 5 in scoring. Just over two thirds (31 of 45) ranked in the top 10. Only 7 of the 45 crashed to below average.
| TOP-5 OFFENSES (staying power) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Prev | Curr | Next |
| 2003 | Kansas City | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2004 | Indianapolis | 2t | 1 | 3 |
| 2004 | Kansas City | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 2004 | Green Bay | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| 2005 | San Diego | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2005 | Indianapolis | 1 | 2 | 3t |
| 2006 | Indianapolis | 2 | 2t | 4 |
| 2006 | San Diego | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2007 | San Diego | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 2007 | Indianapolis | 2t | 3 | 14 |
| 2007 | Dallas | 4 | 2 | 19 |
| 2008 | Green Bay | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 2008 | San Diego | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| 2009 | San Diego | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 2009 | Green Bay | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| 2009 | New Orleans | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 2010 | Philadelphia | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 2010 | San Diego | 4 | 2 | 6t |
| 2011 | New England | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2011 | San Diego | 2 | 5t | 21 |
| 2012 | New England | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2012 | Green Bay | 1 | 5 | 9t |
| 2012 | New Orleans | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 2013 | Denver | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2013 | New England | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 2014 | New England | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 2014 | Philadelphia | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| 2014 | Denver | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 2014 | Dallas | 5 | 5 | 32 |
| 2015 | New England | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 2016 | New England | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2017 | New Orleans | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 2017 | New England | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 2018 | New England | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2018 | New Orleans | 4 | 3 | 4t |
| 2018 | LA Rams | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 2019 | New Orleans | 3 | 3t | 6 |
| 2019 | Kansas City | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 2020 | Tampa Bay | 3t | 3 | 3 |
| 2020 | New Orleans | 3t | 5 | 20 |
| 2021 | Buffalo | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 2021 | Tampa Bay | 3 | 2 | 26 |
| 2022 | Dallas | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | Buffalo | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 2022 | Kansas City | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| 2023 | • Detroit | 5 | 5 | ? |
| 2023 | • Dallas | 3 | 1 | ? |
—Ian Allan