The divisional matchup on Sunday between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears was described as “personal” by Lions defensive back Brian Branch, given that it was the first meeting since Ben Johnson left Detroit to be the coach of Chicago.
“Very motivated. We knew this game was personal,” Branch said. “Really, all these games are personal, but in this one we felt betrayed, from the staff to the players. And we love Ben, we still love Ben. He’s a great coach. He’s a great mastermind, but yes, it was time to go for him.”
Brian Branch
And the Lions certainly did it.
While the chants of “F— Ben Johnson!” echoed in Ford Field near the end of the fourth quarter, the Lions closed out a dominant 52-21 victory, a week after a lackluster effort in Green Bay.
This was the third time the Lions (1-1) scored at least 50 points under coach Dan Campbell. Before his arrival in 2021, Detroit only had three other instances of games with more than 50 points.
Johnson was Detroit’s offensive coordinator for the last three seasons, and the team led the NFL with 33.2 points per game in 2024. But he left the team to join the Bears, rivals of the NFC North, in the offseason.
Branch affirmed that he certainly respects his former coach, but did not agree with the fate he chose.
“He could have gone anywhere else, but he has to come see us,” said Branch, who had six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble on Sunday.
Brian Branch
At one point, Detroit’s defense mocked Johnson. After an interception in the second quarter by All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph, the Lions players recreated Johnson’s famous “stumble bum” play that he used against Chicago last season as a celebration in the game.
In their seventh and final touchdown of the Sunday, which allowed them to surpass the 50-point threshold, the Lions had four consecutive running plays in Chicago territory. Then they designed a passing play on fourth down and goal that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown and a celebration from the Detroit bench.
When asked about it after the game, Johnson said he didn’t feel that Campbell was trying to run up the score.
“What am I supposed to do?” Johnson said. “It’s fourth down and goal, what do you want me to do? Yes, I could have kicked the field goal. They don’t kick field goals; they go for it. I was doing what I was supposed to do. That’s what he does.”
Ben JohnsonThe Lions quarterback, Jared Goff, for his part, said he disagreed with the way fans mocked Johnson at the home game.
“Yes, I didn’t like that. He did a lot for us here,” Goff said, who threw five touchdowns and 334 passing yards, with 23 of 28 passes completed. “I don’t know if he deserved it.”
Jared GoffAlong with their Week 1 loss to the Vikings, the Bears are now one of 11 teams since the division realignment in 2002 to start 0-2 with both losses in divisional games. None of the previous teams have made the playoffs.
“It’s not demoralizing,” Johnson said of Sunday’s loss. “We have to play better. As simple as that.”
Ben Johnson
Detroit finished with 511 total offensive yards and averaged 8.8 yards per play. Campbell felt there was a greater sense of urgency within the group during the week’s practices to clean up their mistakes after the loss to the Packers, while silencing any doubts about changes in the organization.
“I made it as simple as, ‘Let’s clean up the mess we had last week.’ It really is no more than that,” Campbell said. “There’s always going to be this ‘we don’t have the offensive rhythm because we lost Ben (Johnson) or we’re not as good because we lost AG (former defensive coordinator and current Jets coach Aaron Glenn), or this player is leaving.’ Ultimately, it’s, ‘Do you have the coaches? Yes. Do you have the players? Yes.’ We just have to clean up some things.”
Dan Campbell
Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell embrace after Sunday’s game, the first between the two since Johnson left his offensive coordinator position in Detroit to be the coach of Chicago.
Jameson Williams had two receptions for 108 yards in the victory, including a 44-yard touchdown. St. Brown had nine receptions for 115 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first Lions player with 100 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in a game since Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in 2010.
“It’s still early, it’s Week 2, no overreactions,” St. Brown said. “Like, ‘Oh, they scored 50, they’re back.’ We still have to work every week, and we have a good team coming up in Baltimore, so that’ll be another good test.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Before his return to Ford Field, Johnson recalled his time with the Lions and his relationship with Campbell, whom he coached with in both Miami and Detroit. Johnson said he sees Campbell as “family” and joked about his early years in the coaching profession “when I was just a young punk computer brat as [Campbell] likes to call it in Miami.”
There weren’t many interactions between Johnson and his former colleagues until the moments immediately after Sunday’s game, when they exchanged greetings, including with Campbell.
“It’s always good to see Dan Campbell, but not when you’re on the losing side like that,” Johnson said.
