Bears head coach Ben Johnson has earned a reputation as an offensive innovator, but he didn’t come up with the idea that led to one of his team’s touchdowns in Monday’s 27-7 win over the Eagles.
Quarterback Case Keenum ran for a one-yard score in the fourth quarter on a play that saw the two Chicago guards pull in opposite directions while Keenum followed center Garrett Bradbury up the middle for the score. After the game, Johnson credited former Rams head coach Mike Martz with coming up with the play design.
“That’s a Mike Martz special right there, that’s the old sucker sneak,” Johnson said. “I think they were a little bit tight initially and then they stemmed out at the last second, which gave us the green light to get to that play. It’s an old play, an old but a good play right there.”
Martz memorably called the play during Super Bowl XXXVI and it resulted in a Kurt Warner touchdown run. Johnson was a teenager when that game was played, but Martz’s ingenuity stuck with him.