Have Ben Johnson and Todd Monken coached themselves out of the Chicago Bears job?

The NFL’s divisional playoff round was…interesting.

On Saturday, the NFC’s top-seeded Detroit Lions were upset by the Washington Commanders at home by a score of 45-31, while the Baltimore Ravens—favorites on the road—fell to Buffalo, 27-25.

What do those two losing teams have in common?

Both of their offensive coordinators are legit contenders to be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. Detroit’s diabolical Ben Johnson is the fan favorite, with Baltimore’s Todd Monken not too far behind in the hearts and minds of Bears Nation.

Thing is, in their lone postseason appearances this season, both of them kinda-sorta pooped the bed.

Ben’s Boo-Boos

Yes, Johnson’s scheming helped Detroit rack up a perfectly reasonable 31 points on Saturday, but the Lions’ offense was uncharacteristically off in the fourth quarter, the most glaring issue being a lack of urgency over the last eight minutes.

Detroit’s 2024 offense was a paragon of efficiency, but on Sunday, down 14 with the clock tick-tick-ticking away, there was a shocking lack of no-huddle, and the plays appeared to come into quarterback Jared Goff slowly, further gumming up the works.

Sure, 31 points should be enough to win a home playoff game, but when much of your defense is getting triaged at the local hospital, that number needs to be much, much higher, especially against the video game character known as Jayden Daniels.

Monken Around

Meanwhile in Buffalo, Lamar Jackson delivered one of his worst performances of the season—“worst” being relative, because he was still a beast—throwing a key first-quarter interception, and missing tight end Mark Andrews on a fourth-quarter two-point conversion that would have sent the game into overtime.

As for the rushing game, Derrick Henry was given just 16 carries, the fewest he’s seen since the December 15, 2024 win over the New York Giants.

Jackson’s miscues weren’t Monken’s fault, but Henry’s lack of touches was. The former Heisman Trophy winner is one of the most prolific playoff running backs in league history—his 1,002 postseason yards ranks seventh all-time—so he needs at least 20 touches. At least.

Monken should’ve known better.

King Me?

On the other hand, Kliff Kingsbury—who the Bears have asked permission to interview—helped Daniels look like a freakin’ Hall of Famer, so does he jump to the top of Chicago's hit parade?

Kingsbury will have at least one more postseason game to make his case, whereas while Johnson and Monken must wait to see if their playoff missteps cost them the opportunity of a lifetime.