Creative Play Call From Lions' Ben Johnson Had Tom Brady Completely Baffled

Karl Rasmussen | Jan 18, 2025

Amon-Ra St. Brown catches a shovel pass from David Montgomery and turns up field. / Screenshot via Lions on X

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was reaching into his bag of tricks throughout Saturday night's divisional round clash against the Washington Commanders. During the third quarter, one of his more creative play calls left Tom Brady totally awestruck in the Fox booth.

Jared Goff pitched the ball to his left to David Montgomery, who began to feign as if he was running with the ball. Rather than cut inside, Montgomery proceeded to throw a quick shovel pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who burst up the seam for a sizeable gain.

Brady, much like the rest of us watching the game, and the Commanders defense, was completely floored by the impeccably designed play.

"What?!" exclaimed Brady. "I've never seen that in my life!"

David Montgomery with the shovel pass to St. Brown for a gain of 20!#WASvsDET | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/3nIXUDF5fX

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 19, 2025

Considering Brady appeared in 335 regular-season games across his illustrious 23-year career in the NFL, it's not common that there's a play design he's never seen before. The creativity of Johnson and the flawless execution from the Lions offense had the 47-year-old fired up.

There's never a dull moment when the Lions offense is on the field.

---

More of the Latest Around the NFL

feed