Adding another item to the checklist will only mean there is another item that is potentially overlooked. To say that the NG is just like the 777 under the skin is only relevant to the PFD/ND dislplay. The pressurisation system is still reliant on the bleed switches being turned on at some point during the flight and physically connecting the bleed system to the pressurisation system. It should be fool proof but it isn't so Boeing need to come up with additional defenses to allow for the fools.
To say that it is simply a matter of good airmanship and the problem shouldn't exist is ignoring reality and the many examples of pilot induced pressurisation incidents.