Ben Johnson takes the heat for Lions' playoff stumble vs Commanders 

Ben Johnson's critical self-assessment emerged after the Detroit Lions' shocking playoff defeat. His words paint a picture of a coach deeply analyzing the team's catastrophic performance against the Washington Commanders.

Johnson, who had recently accepted the Chicago Bears coaching position, provided a brutally honest post-mortem of the game. His connection to the Lions—from offensive quality control coach in 2019 to offensive coordinator by 2022—made the loss even more painful.

During an appearance on the "Breakfast Ball" program on Thursday, Johnson reflected on the Lions' Divisional Round loss.

"Listen, I always look at myself first, and any time a play doesn't work, I question why it was called, when it was called, and whether those reasons were valid or not," Johnson said.

The context of his comments stems from a devastating 45–31 playoff loss. As the NFC's top-seeded team, the Lions were unexpectedly eliminated by the sixth-seeded Commanders. The game was marred by five turnovers, five drops and multiple false starts that derailed Detroit's championship aspirations.

Ben Johnson's painful playoff post-mortem

NFL: Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson introductory press conference - Source: Imagn

Ben Johnson continued his candid assessment, highlighting the fundamental breakdowns that cost the Lions.

"We have drops. I want to say last week against Washington," he said. "We had five drops in that game. We had a couple false starts. And then of course, five turnovers. And quite frankly, that's just not winning football."

His raw, unfiltered critique continued with a stark admission.

"We didn't earn that win," he said. "We didn't deserve it. And Washington did so you get what you deserve here in this league."

Johnson's comments came just days after he left the Lions to join the Chicago Bears as their head coach. His reflections offer a glimpse into the team's internal assessment of their playoff collapse, where they went from being conference favorites to a stunned, eliminated squad.

Johnson's mentor and former head coach, Dan Campbell, echoed similar sentiments. Campbell said, "It's not the time to talk about what a great year," referencing their impressive 15-2 regular season. The only metric that truly matters is playoff success.

The game's turning points were brutal. A critical fourth-and-2 mistake with 14:15 left to play, a penalty for too many men on the field, gave Washington a fresh set of downs. After two plays, Washington scored, sealing the Lions' fate.

The loss was gut-wrenching because the Lions, the underdogs, were eligible for the Super Bowl. The Lions' first-ever NFC North title and first NFC championship game appearance since 1991 made the collapse even more devastating.