Ben Johnson attacks Packers coach Matt LaFleur

Ben Johnson had several jobs to choose from. He chose the Bears.

Not only do they have a quarterback to lean around, but Johnson also noted that they are in a division he knows well. Johnson spent six seasons in the NFC North as an assistant under Dan Campbell.

“I know it’s the toughest division in football at the moment,” Johnson said, via the club’s Dave Birkett. Detroit Free Press. “There are three teams that made the playoffs this year. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and players in this league who have faced them over the last six years. Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell talk about two guys who are in the running for Coach of the Year awards as the season ends here. And to be completely honest with you, I I rather liked beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.

Campbell, the Lions coach, and O’Connell, the Vikings coach, are the favorites for NFL coach of the year. LaFleur led the Packers to four double-digit winning seasons during his six years as head coach, with two different quarterbacks.

The Lions swept the Packers two of the last three seasons, but were just 6-6 against Green Bay during Johnson’s time in Detroit.

LaFleur is 11-1 against the Bears since becoming Packers head coach.

Johnson starts at the bottom of a good division.

The NFC North sent three teams to the playoffs this season, although the Packers, Vikings and Lions went 0-3. It was only the second time since 1970 that a division sent three teams to the playoffs and came up empty once they got there.