The Houston Texans are more aggressive with their coaching search than they were last offseason.
According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the Texans have requested an interview with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Although Detroit missed out on the postseason, the Lions punctuated their 9-8 season with 20-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football, preventing their NFC North rivals from qualifying for the playoffs. Quarterback Jared Goff completed 23-of-34 passing for 224 yards and took one sack. The ground game generated 4.2 yards per carry, and running back Jamaal Williams ran 16 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns.
Detroit finished as the third-best offense and the fifth-best scoring offense. The Lions finished 8-2 after starting the season 1-6.
Goff threw for the second-most touchdowns of his career with 29 and matched his single-season low for interceptions with seven — an impressive feat considering the others years — 2016 and 2017 — saw the former Los Angeles Rams 2016 first-rounder start seven and 15 games, not a full 17.
Johnson got his start in coaching in the NFL as an offensive assistant with the Miami Dolphins under rookie coach Joe Philbin. Johnson became the assistant quarterbacks coach from 2013-15 before taking on the role of tight ends coach. From 2016-17, he was the assistant receivers coach until becoming the receivers coach in 2018. Johnson made his entry into the Lions organization in 2019 as an offensive quality control coach on Matt Patricia’s staff. From 2020-21, Johnson was the tight ends coach before taking over as the offensive coordinator in 2022 after Anthony Lynn left.
