Lions and OC Ben Johnson torch Bears in first half, slow down in second
DETROIT — Bears fans dreaming about their next head coach had to be impressed by Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in the first half Thursday.
In the second? Not so much.
The Lions dominated the Bears in the first two quarters of their eventual 23-20 victory. When the teams ran into the locker room, the Lions had run a whopping 47 plays for 279 yards — 144 on the ground and 135 in the air.
They led 16-0, but the Bears’ deficit could have been greater. One reason was that running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled at the Bears’ 6 with a minute left in the half.
‘‘We had a chance to make it . . . 23-0, or even 19-0 if we had a field goal,’’ said Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who went 21-for-34 for 221 yards with two touchdowns and a 100.2 passer rating. ‘‘But you just know that you kind of left the door open a little bit, and you know, ‘All right, this is going to be a game now. . . . [We] have to kind of fight for it now and continue to finish this game.’ And I thought [the Bears] fought back well.’’
The Lions had more trouble in their four possessions in the second half, punting twice, missing a field goal and scoring a third-quarter touchdown. Their three drives in the fourth quarter produced 12 plays for 48 yards and only two first downs. They had 126 yards in the second half, less than half their first-half total.
Johnson, who turned down head-coaching opportunities after last season, will be the hottest offensive coordinator when the head-coaching carousel starts to spin. The Lions are 11-1 and are
the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl.
Montgomery burns
Running back David Montgomery, who spent his first four seasons with the Bears before joining the Lions because he wanted to win more, paced the team with 21 carries for 88 yards. He caught three passes for 36 yards, too.
After the game, Goff ate the ceremonial turkey leg on CBS. Montgomery had carrots.
‘‘I don’t know,’’ Goff said. ‘‘He maybe wasn’t hungry.”
Another bad challenge
Bears coach Matt Eberflus challenged an incomplete pass in the first quarter, arguing that Lions receiver Jameson Williams caught the ball and fumbled, with the ball recovered by the Bears. He lost — again. Eberflus is 0-for-5 on challenges this season and has the worst record in the NFL among any coach not in his first season.
Eberflus threw a challenge flag later in the game that he likely would have won, but the play was overturned by officials before they could turn to instant replay.
This and that
Right tackle Darnell Wright, the Bears’ first-round pick in 2023, left with a knee injury in the third quarter. He was replaced by Larry Borom.
• Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon was flagged for a horse-collar tackle when he brought down Gibbs short of the sticks on third-and-eight in the third quarter.
Gordon, who appeared to grab Gibbs’ hair, said Gibbs was down before anything happened. He said he asked the official for an explanation and didn’t get one.
‘‘I asked him, and he ignored me,’’ Gordon said. ‘‘You can’t make this stuff up. They’re just gonna do what they’re gonna do.’’
• Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen suffered an ankle injury when he was rolled up on from behind in the fourth quarter, but he soon returned.
‘‘Little ankle sprain,’’ he said.
• Williams hurdled Bears safety Kevin Byard on an end-around in the third quarter.