In a game that allowed many a Detroit fan to release some anxiety, the Lions convincingly dominated the visiting Chicago Bears, 52-21, in Sunday’s Week 2 home opener in Ford Field. The game showed off the considerable talent on both sides of the ball for Detroit, as well as a statement from head coach Dan Campbell to new Bears coach Ben Johnson, the Lions’ offensive coordinator for the prior three years.
This one was a fun romp for the capacity crowd in Ford Field. Detroit scored seven touchdowns and forced two turnovers, plus two other fourth-down stops against Caleb Williams and the Bears offense. A competitive first quarter quickly turned decidedly in Detroit’s favor.
Here’s what I took away from watching the game in real time.
3 stars of the game
1st star: Jared Goff – 23-of-28, 334 yards, 5 TDs, no turnovers, QB Rating of 156.0
2nd star: John Morton – the new OC upstaged the celebrity he replaced with an aggressive game plan that smartly exploited matchups
3rd star: Amon-Ra St. Brown – 9 catches, 115 yards, 3 TDs and a key block on a long Jahmyr Gibbs run, too
Key sequence
After the Lions executed a fantastic drive to go up 21-7 in the second quarter (more on that drive below), there was a critical sequence of possessions.
Chicago answered nicely with perhaps the Bears’ best offensive drive of the young season. Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze three times on a sharp drive, ending with a 6-yard TD connection that burned the Lions defense:
Detroit got an opportunity to respond with just under two minutes remaining. Six plays, 76 yards and a spectacular Isaac TeSlaa one-handed catch capitalized on the opportunity. After an officiating snafu with the clock, Goff hit St. Brown in the front corner of the end zone. The 21-14 lead burst out to 28-14.
Chicago got the ball first in the third quarter with a chance to define the tone of the second half. The Lions defense aggressively forced a quick 3-and-out. Two timid D’Andre Swift runs and a misfire on third down from Williams gave Detroit the ball right back.
First play of Detroit’s next drive: Goff to Jameson Williams for a sashaying 64-yard gain. The drive stalled out and resulted in a Jake Bates field goal, but the larger damage was done. The score was 31-14 at that point but it might as well have been 131-14. The Lions were roaring with the Bears ready to hibernate, and it showed in their respective body language and sidelines.
Going Ben Johnson against Ben Johnson
The Lions third touchdown drive, coming in the second quarter, was an emphatic middle finger wagging at anyone who suggests that the offense was a complete Ben Johnson creation. Two designed WR runs. Pre-snap motions to establish proper leverage on route releases. An aggressive offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage nicely. David Montgomery finishing runs by punishing the tackler (twice). That was all capped with a sweet red zone release to No. 2 TE Brock Wright, effectively left alone while the Bears defense worried about everyone else.
Eight plays, 67 yards, five first downs culminating in the touchdown. That it came off a Kerby Joseph interception, created in part by strong pressure on Caleb Williams from Aidan Hutchinson, it’s like a flashback to the most glorious part of the magical 15-2 season a year ago.
It was a “Ben Johnson” kind of drive that Ben Johnson’s new team was helpless in stopping. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t all Ben Johnson after all…(insert jaded eye roll here)
Defense stepped up
After an impressive opening drive touchdown for the Bears, Detroit’s defense took control. The pass rush, basically nonexistent in Green Bay, started getting to Caleb Williams–both literally and figuratively. Detroit finished with four sacks, but they impacted Williams far beyond the sacks. The first interception came as the Bears gunslinger heaved a ball up for grabs under heavy pressure, a throw that ended in Kerby Joseph’s hands.
The run defense, Detroit’s best feature in Week 1, wasn’t as strong but still got the job done. Chicago ran for 134 yards on 27 carries, but 39 of those yards came in garbage time (defined as: after the Bears pulled Caleb Williams). Williams rushed five times for 27 yards, an effective case of containment by the Lions defense. A blown gap assignment by LB Derrick Barnes ceded a 20-yard run to ex-Lions RB D’Andre Swift early, and after that, the tackling and discipline were solid.
Quick hits
–Detroit’s first sack of the season came courtesy of Marcus Davenport, on Chicago’s second drive of the second half
–Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 6 passes for exactly 100 yards in the first half, including the TD on the final play
–First-round rookie Tyleik Williams didn’t record a tackle, but he was directly responsible for both the defensive fourth-down stands. Williams annihilated the blocking on a designed Caleb Williams sneak, getting a paw on Williams almost immediately and collapsing the line around him. Big No. 91 swatted Williams’ pass on the other fourth down, one of two PDs for Tyleik on the day.
–Jake Bates missed his 55-yard field goal attempt but nailed a 34-yarder later in the game
–Behold Isaac TeSlaa:
–That spectacular catch led to an officiating snafu that wound up working out in Detroit’s favor. The official on the sideline signaled that TeSlaa got out of bounds and stopped the clock with 15 seconds left in the half. However, referee Land Clark didn’t process that and the clock appeared to run out as the umpire (very slowly) spotted the ball for play. They corrected it with a 10-second runoff from the time TeSlaa was touched down, giving the Lions more than enough time for Goff to find St. Brown for the touchdown. I will continue to argue that the 10-second runoff when the officials make a mistake is the dumbest rule in professional sports.
–We’ll get the advanced stats later, but the offensive line didn’t allow a sack and looked significant;y more cohesive after a rough Week 1. The holes in the run game came a lot more frequently, too. Special nod to center Graham Glasgow, who made a couple of excellent pass protection pickups that he wasn’t getting to in Green Bay.
–Detroit was penalized three times, losing 28 yards. One of those was a roughing-the-passer call against Brian Branch that wiped out an INT. Chicago committed 8 enforced penalties for 50 yards, including a chop block on Aidan Hutchinson that should earn a hefty fine for OT Darnell Wright.
–Reserve TE Shane Zylstra left the game and did not return with an ankle injury suffered on punt coverage
–Detroit’s 52 points matched the high mark from the Ben Johnson era, achieved twice in 2024
–The Lions have won the last four meetings with the Bears in Ford Field, and six of the last meetings overall with their NFC North rivals
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Quick takeaways from the Lions’ dominating win over the Bears in Week 2
Reporting by Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
