Ben Johnson once did this to the Bears—now he’ll be doing it for the Bears

The uber-creative play caller is ready to make the rest of the NFL look silly from the Chicago sidelines.

Jared Goff executes Ben Johnson's "Stumble Bum" | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Good news: New Chicago Bears headman Ben Johnson comes to Chicago carrying a huge suitcase of trick plays.

Better news: The Bears won’t have to defend said trick plays.

Even better news: Whoever gets the Ben treatment will get killed on social media...and it won't be the Monsters of the Midway.

🚨NEWS: Ben Johnson designed a play called “Stumble Bum,” inspired by a Jordan Love mishandled snap that turned into a big pass against the #Bears.

Then today, Jared Goff and Gibbs pulled this play off, resulting in a big touchdown by Sam LaPorta.

🤯👀pic.twitter.com/3BRB87JOfw

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 23, 2024

They called it The Stumble Bum. It was a simple, cute, and mean four-stop process:

• Quarterback Jared Goff intentionally stumbled while dropping back.

• Most every Detroit player on the field yelled, “Fumble!”

• Running back Jahmyr Gibbs pretened to fall on the “fumble.”

• Goff calmly chucked a 21-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta.

Evil. Straight up evil.

When Johnson pitched the idea, Goff was initially skeptical, before he got on board and contributed a tweak to the cause:

At first, it started on Monday, with Ben asking if (I) thought I could fumble on purpose and pick it back up,” Goff said. “I said I don't know about that. We kind of got off that pretty quickly and were like, 'Let's just pretend we're falling or pretend I'm fumbling but I'm holding onto the ball.' I think the part that Gibbs dives really sells the play. I'm only doing half of it."

And here's the best news of all: Johnson has plenty more where that came from, which will thrill Bears Nation to no end.

HOOK & LADDER TD

BEN JOHNSON IS A MADMAN.pic.twitter.com/AAEkAFma00

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 31, 2024