49ers DC Nick Sorensen Raves About Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson

Last time the 49ers faced Detroit, they won but also gave up 31 points. And that was in the NFC Championship Game last season when the 49ers were good.

Dec 22, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

SANTA CLARA -- Last time the 49ers faced Detroit, they won but also gave up 31 points. And that was in the NFC Championship Game last season when the 49ers were good.

Now the 49ers are not good and the Lions are even better than they were. In addition, Lions offensive coordinator has become arguably the top offensive coordinator, and now 49ers rookie defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen has to face him for the first time.

This week, Sorensen raved about Johnson to Bay Area reporters. Here's what Sorensen said, courtesy of the 49ers' p.r. department.

Q: This offense of the Lions, has it changed much since you guys game planned for them last year?

SORENSEN: “Yeah, they're pretty consistent with overall scheme. They obviously do a few different things for each team that they play and they have great talent everywhere. Ben Johnson's a really good coordinator. He knows exactly what he's doing. He knows how to game plan for you and then he’s got his wrinkles that everyone sees and those big highlight plays that are so different and creative. So, it's a tough task because they've got great scheme, great coaching all the way around, top to bottom and really good players on every level.”

Q: You talk about those wrinkles, do you think that's part of the plan is just to get opposing defenses wasting time during the week trying to figure out all the scenarios?

SORENSEN: “I mean, there's probably some aspect to that, but I think it's just he sees something and has ideas and is creative with it and just thinks of different ways to get guys involved. I think it's about the players that he has, but also something that he sees and might be able to expose.”

ME: What’s unique about Ben Johnson's scheme?

SORENSEN: “Unique is he’ll change, he'll tweak little things with who he's playing, I think, with some of the blocking. But as far as like the outside zone, the players he has and how he uses them it's just what he does in certain parts of the field. It's fairly simple as far as they're consistent in how they do things, but they have enough wrinkles to where they just execute well. So you know that they're on it, they're well coached. Like I said, from front to back, starting with the line, really good offensive line, probably the best in the league. And then you pair that with, how the quarterback operates in [Detroit Lions QB Jared] Goff and when they can run it and they can play-action pass they're really, really tough.”

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