DETROIT – The Detroit Lions destroyed Ben Johnson and the Bears in a must-win Week 2 matchup at Ford Field.
After dropping the opener against the Packers, the Lions couldn’t afford to fall to 0-2 in the division in a home game against the Bears.
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But they left little doubt, keeping the Bears at arm’s length during the first half and then running away with the game in the third quarter.
Fast start for Lions
Johnson got off to a rough start from the opening kickoff. He won the toss and elected to defer, but then his kicker booted it out of bounds to let the Lions offense start at the 40-yard line.
Two plays later, the Lions were already in the red zone, and Jahmyr Gibbs took it from there, gaining the final 17 yards on three carries to open the scoring.
Bears answer back
But as he has so many times at Ford Field, Johnson had a response. The Bears went 79 yards on 11 plays in under four minutes to tie it up, capped by a Caleb Williams toss to Rome Odunze for a 28-yard score.
Odunze crossed the field just a few yards downfield in front of the Lions’ zone, but nobody picked him up, and he scampered easily into the end zone.
Once again, the Lions’ defense failed to generate any pressure on the quarterback, even on third and 9 -- an obvious passing down.
Lions win battle of field position
Detroit’s next drive got derailed by an apparent miscommunication between Jared Goff and Jameson Williams. The Lions offense had all the momentum, but Goff underthrew a wide open Williams by several yards on first down, and the drive ultimately stalled on that series.
Jack Fox pinned the Bears on their own 10-yard line, and they immediately faced a key third and 8. Williams once again had time to survey the field, but Terrion Arnold made a great tackle after a catch by Olamide Zaccheaus to stop him short of the sticks.
Arnold’s tackle helped the Lions start the next possession with great field position, right at midfield.
Kalif Raymond made an important second-down grab after offsetting penalties wiped away a Bears sack. Then, Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown across the middle for a 32-yard catch-and-run to the 1-yard line.
David Montgomery took the handoff on the next snap and barreled into the end zone.
Defense gets fumble, 4th-down stop, interception
Johnson is the only former Lion who was back at Ford Field on Sunday. Running back D’Andre Swift is in his second season starting for the Bears, and he was off to a pretty nice start Sunday until late in the first quarter.
Swift took a carry to the left and was trying to find some running room when he got lit up by Brian Branch.
Branch knocked the ball loose, and the Lions jumped on it. The Bears were around the 35-yard line and Williams was getting whatever he wanted in the passing game, so that turnover likely took at least three points off the board.
The offense couldn’t capitalize, though, after a 1-yard run by Gibbs, a couple of incomplete passes forced Fox to come back in and punt it away.
But after the Bears gained 9 yards on the first play, the Lions’ defensive front stepped up. Rookie tackle Tyleik Williams tipped a pass on second down, and then the Lions stuffed Caleb Williams on back-to-back quarterback run attempts to force a turnover on downs.
Johnson watched Campbell benefit from a number of fourth-down gambles during his time in Detroit, but this one gave the Lions the ball on Chicago’s 37-yard line.
But again, the Lions couldn’t take advantage. a two-yard run, a two-yard loss, and an incomplete pass brought up fourth and 10. Jake Bates, who was basically automatic on deep kicks last season as a rookie, missed from 55 yards to let Johnson off the hook.
That gave the Bears good field position, but a holding penalty generated by some Lions pressure on Williams set them right back. A facemask on Chicago set up a second and 32, and Williams threw an ill-advised pass to nobody while scrambling to his right.
Lions fans can probably guess what happened. Kerby Joseph, who had nine interceptions last season, made a diving grab to get the defense off the field once again.
READ: Lions troll Ben Johnson with very familiar interception celebration
This time, the Lions took advantage of the turnover. They marched 67 yards in nine plays for a score that put them up 21-7.
TeSlaa catch sets up insane ending to first half
But the Bears weren’t going away quietly. A personal foul on the kickoff set the Bears up with great field position, and they went 57 yards on nine plays to pull back with a score.
But they left 1:55 on the clock for the Lions offense, and it turns out that was just barely enough.
The Lions marched to the Chicago 37-yard line, but had only 21 seconds left. Goff took a risk and tossed a 50-50 ball up to rookie Isaac TeSlaa near the 5-yard line, and TeSlaa made an incredible grab falling to the ground, getting both feet in bounds.
But as the Lions rushed up and spiked the ball to stop the clock, it appeared to run out. The Bears started running for the locker room, but the officials called them back.
Apparently, the original call on the field was that TeSlaa was out of bounds, and on review, he was deemed to still be in. So the Lions got to run another play, and Goff hit St. Brown for a touchdown that made the score 28-14 at the break.
MORE: Why refs let Lions run 1 more play before halftime for key touchdown vs. Bears
That was a very important sequence, especially with the Bears getting the ball after halftime. They could have come out of the locker room with a chance to tie it up.
Lions run away in third quarter
Remember how the Lions would sometimes look discombobulated in the third quarter last season? Yeah, not this time.
The defense forced a quick punt and then Goff hit Jameson Williams for a 64-yard completion on the very first offensive play.
Detroit settled for a field goal to go up 17, and then the defense stepped up big once again, shutting down the Bears on a fourth and 5 in their own territory.
It was the rookie Tyleik Williams who came up with his second critical deflection at the line of scrimmage to stop the fourth-down attempt.
After a pair of short Gibbs runs, Goff found Jameson Williams wide open on third and 8 for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Lions up 38-14.
Chicago had to punt on the next drive, and the Lions answered with an 84-yard touchdown drive that ended on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Goff finding St. Brown for his second score of the game.
Final thoughts
The rest of the fourth quarter was a formality. A roughing the passer penalty on Branch negated a Terrion Arnold interception and led to a Bears touchdown, but nothing was going to change the outcome at that point.
St. Brown did score his third touchdown of the game to put the Lions up over 50 points. It came on a fourth-down play from the 4-yard line.
The Lions got some pressure on Caleb Williams in the second half, which was a welcomed sight. But it still remains to be seen if they can get to the quarterback before games get out of hand.
But all-in-all, it was exactly what Lions fans needed to see after a tough Week 1 in Green Bay. The offense was electric in all facets. The defense forced turnovers and mostly held up throughout the day.
Now, at 1-1, the Lions face a Monday Night Football matchup with the mighty Baltimore Ravens on the road next week.