Can Jared Goff Prosper Without Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson?

Former Cal quarterback Jared Goff is getting plenty of criticism from everyone, including himself, for his performance in the playoff loss to the Washington Commanders on Saturday, and now more questions will be thrown at Goff regarding his future without Ben Johnson guiding him along.

ESPN reported Monday that the Chicago Bears are finalizing a deal that that would make Johnson their next head coach. That means the Detroit Lions will be without Johnson, who played a large role in lifting the Lions’ offense and Goff to elite levels in Johnson's three seasons as Detroit’s offensive coordinator.

More than once TV commentators noted how much Goff has benefited from having Johnson as his offensive coordinator, not only for Johnson’s playcalling – which is considered outstanding –- but also the relationship Johnson and Goff have developed in the implementation of the offense. Goff knows Johnson’s system inside and out now.

“This thing is set up for [Jared] Goff to have success with our playmakers,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “[Amon-Ra] St. Brown, our running backs, the O-line, the whole deal. Jamo [Jameson Williams]. And so I want to keep that in place. I want to keep our terminology in place, and I want to make sure that Goff is comfortable, 'cause he’s playing at a high level.”

Goff’s statistics show how he has grown into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks under Johnson tutelage.

Goff was basically discarded in the trade that sent Goff from the Rams to Detroit along with two first-round draft choices in exchange for Matthew Stafford following the 2020 season.

In his first season in Detroit, under offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, the Lions went 3-10-1 in Goff’s 14 starts, as he threw 19 touchdown passes with eight interceptions and a 90.5 passer rating.

Johnson replaced Lynn as Detroit’s offensive coordinator prior to the 2022 season, and the team went 9-8 in Goff’s 17 starts, and Goff made the Pro Bowl that season while throwing 29 TD passes with seven interceptions and a 99.3 passer rating.

In 2023, Goff guided the Lions to the NFC championship game, and people in Deroit started the “Ja-red Goff, Ja’red Goff” chants after he threw 30 touchdown passes with 12 interceptions and 97.9 passer rating.

Goff and Johnson seemed to be in perfect harmony this season when Goff had a career-high 37 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and a career-high 111.8 passer rating, the second-best in the NFL, for a Detroit team that went 15-2, earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and led the NFL in scoring.

Goff’s four-turnover game against Commanders may have changed the narrative about Goff, and now people will wonder whether he can continue to improve under a different offensive coordinator.

Campbell said over the weekend that he will work with Goff in the search for Lions’ next offensive coordinator.

“That’s what Ben did a great job of is those guys working together,” Campbell said, according to the Free Press. “And this system was kind of built from the ground up and it was to help [Goff] and for him to be a part of. So yeah, that’s huge. [Goff] will have a lot of input. What he says is going to have a – says a lot to me, I should say. Now, is it going to be the ultimate decision? No, it’s not, but what he says is going to mean a lot to me.”

The Lions have several in-house candidates who could be promoted to offensive coordinator, including passing-game coordinator Tanner Engstrand, wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El, offensive line coach Hank Fraley and running backs coach Scottie Montgomery.

It should be noted that Ben Johnson was on the Lions staff when he was promoted to offensive coordinator by Campbell. Johnson was the quality control coach for the Lions in 2019 and the tight ends coach in 2020. He was retained at that position by Campbell when Campbell was hired as head coach in 2021, and Johnson was promoted to offensive playcaller midway through the 2021 season when Lynn was relieved of those duties after an 0-8 start.

Johnson was officially given the title of offensive coordinator prior to the 2022 season.

So the question now is this: Did Johnson make Goff look good, or did Goff make Johsnon look good?

Follow California Golden Bears on SI on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport