3 top offensive candidates for the Bears' head coaching position put together impressive outings on Sunday while the Bears were off
The Chicago Bears are just a few weeks out from starting the head coaching search, but team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles have surely already discussed some of the various candidates in contention for the job.While the Bears were off and getting set for a divisional matchup on Monday Night Football against […]
The Chicago Bears are just a few weeks out from starting the head coaching search, but team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles have surely already discussed some of the various candidates in contention for the job.
While the Bears were off and getting set for a divisional matchup on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings, Warren and Poles were hopefully able to take their eyes away from their team and check out some other games on Sunday.
Three offenses in particular put up some major numbers during the Week 15 slate and all three units were led by candidates the Bears should bring in for interviews once the season comes to a close. Let's look at each of those three names and how their units looked on Sunday.
Lions' OC Ben Johnson
If you haven't been watching the Detroit Lions' offense this season, you truly have been missing out. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has done an incredible job calling and leading his unit and is a major reason why this team is on the verge of another deep playoff run.
Against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Johnson's creativity was once again on display and the passing game was playing lights out trying to comeback from an early deficit. Lions' quarterback Jared Goff finished the game 38/59 passing for 494 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 0 turnovers. He was able to complete 4+ passes to five different targets while six players had 30+ receiving yards.
Johnson's ability to scheme different guys open but still feed his main weapon (Amon-Ra St. Brown finished with 193 yards on 18 targets) was truly impressive. He should easily be the top candidate on the Bears' radar.
Bills' OC Joe Brady
As good as Ben Johnson was on Sunday, the offensive coordinator on the other side of the field was just as impressive. Buffalo Bills' OC Joe Brady called a fantastic game and had a clear plan in place for how he wanted to attack the Lions' banged up defense.
The Bills finished the game with 559 yards of total offense, easily the highest mark in Brady's first real year leading the unit. Over the last two games, Brady's quarterback Josh Allen has scored 10 total touchdowns, putting him easily in the driver seat for the MVP Award with three weeks left in the season.
In the win, nine different players touched the ball for the Bills with two different running backs going for 100+ scrimmage yards. Allen also managed to average a ridiculous 15.7 yards per competition. If the Bills continue to put up numbers like this on offense, Brady's name will continue to get thrown into head coach conversations.
Buccaneers' OC Liam Coen
One name that's starting to really make a name for himself in his first season back in the NFL as an offensive coordinator is Liam Coen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator had his unit top 500+ yards for the second time this season, this time against a revitalized Los Angeles Chargers defense that allowed under 400 yards in each of their previous three games before Week 15.
The real star of the game for the Buccaneers' offense was wide receiver Mike Evans, who has averaged 103.5 yards per game with three touchdowns since returning from injury in Week 12. On Sunday, Evans had 159 yards and two of those three scores.
What's impressed me the most out of Coen's offense since I started paying more attention to the unit has been the rotation in the backfield between Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, and Sean Tucker. Yesterday, Irving had 117 rushing yards, White had 81 total yards, and Tucker added 17 yards on seven carries.
With each passing game, it's looking more and more likely that the Buccaneers will lose an offensive coordinator for the second year in a row and the Bears should at the very least do some research.
Even though each of these coordinators put together incredible gameplans on Sunday, and continue to do so all season, that's not indicative that they would make for an excellent head coach in Chicago.
There's a lot more that goes into it than offensive success and determining how each candidate would fit in the big chair can only be determined in the upcoming interviews. Even still, these three have done more than enough to get a call or two.
