A week after getting shut down by the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions came to play against another NFC North opponent. The Chicago Bears learned the hard way that the Lions remain a talented team despite their offseason poaching of Detroit’s former offensive coordinator. With motivation to prove themselves as Super Bowl contenders and motivation to silence a division rival, the Lions did not disappoint.
Detroit walked away from their Week 2 tilt with a staggering scoreboard of 52-21, a walloping
of the Bears. The panic levels can settle after a rough first week. Now 1-1 on the season, the fanbase can reset before a tough tilt with the Baltimore Ravens.
Who emerged from this beatdown as a winner or loser?
Winners
John Morton, OC
If we criticize coordinators at their worst, we need to praise them at their best.
Morton’s offense looked like a different beast against the Bears. The team exploded for 28 points in the opening half alone, trumping their total from last week in a fraction of the time. After being stifled by the Packers, the offense welcomed the Bears defense. The passing attack was humming, with Jared Goff throwing for 334 yards and five touchdowns. It was a turnaround performance for Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery after a tough Week 1 outing. The duo added a pair of touchdown runs and a combined 151 rushing yards, with each back boasting a great average of 7.8 (Gibbs) and 5.2 (Montgomery) yards per attempt.
The best news coming out of the Sunday was the performance of the offensive line. After being plagued by miscommunications last week, it was a mostly solid showing for the starting five of Penei Sewell, Tate Ratledge, Graham Glasgow, Christian Mahogany, and Taylor Decker, the latter of whom missed the multiple practices nursing a shoulder injury. The unit looked cohesive and decisive with their blocking, helping facilitate a clean pocket for Goff and running lanes up front. The Bears finished the day with zero sacks despite some talent along their defensive line.
After looking completely outmatched against Green Bay, it was Morton and his offense on the right side of a coaching mismatch—so much for the Lions missing Ben Johnson.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
Despite a quiet Week 1 performance, it was a certainty that St. Brown would return to his usual elite self—the man is simply too talented to put together mere four-catch, 45-yard performances. Thankfully for the Lions offense, it happened just a week later. St. Brown finished the day with nine catches for 115 yards and three touchdowns, resuming his annual befuddling of the Bears secondary. After the receivers were blanketed by the Packers last week, St. Brown had more room to operate against a lesser Bears secondary.
What also stood out about St. Brown’s game was his run blocking. The Lions receivers have always prided themselves on blocking, and St. Brown put on a clinic. He was able to spring Gibbs and Montgomery on a pair of their longest runs. Montgomery’s in particular, an 18-yard rumble, would have been stopped for a modest 5 yards or so without St. Brown’s blocking allowing him to scurry up the sideline.
No need to panic about St. Brown, he is still a menace to defenses everywhere.
Tyleik Williams, DL
He might not be on Alim McNeill’s level yet, but it was a stellar second career outing for Williams. He and DJ Reader again combined to form a stout interior in run defense (most of D’Andre Swift’s damage was done towards the outside). Williams had a handful of pivotal plays that did not appear on the stat sheet, but changed the course of the game. He had back-to-back run stuffs early in the first half to force a Bears turnover on downs. He had a pair of batted passes, one of which came on a fourth down attempt—the Lions promptly scored on the ensuing drive.
His early development has been critical to weathering McNeill’s absence. Imagine what this line can do with both of them on the field.
Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE
Through two games, Muhammad has quietly put together an impressive showcase. He was the Lions’ highest rated defender per PFF against the Packers, but it came on just seven defensive snaps—though he recorded a pressure and quarterback hit on those limited snaps.
He had a bigger presence against the Bears and delivered some much-needed pass rush. He finished the day with multiple pressures and fantastic sack in which he bulldozed the Bears’ left tackle en route to tackling Caleb Williams. It is difficult to stand out across from Aidan Hutchinson, but Muhammad has looked like a capable DE2. With games like these (and injuries ahead of him on the depth chart), Muhammad could have a sizeable before long.
Losers
Ben Johnson, HC
That is how you kill a narrative.
After struggling against Green Bay to the tune of just 13 points, the Lions took out their anger on their former offensive coordinator. The Lions dropped a whopping 52 points on the Bears at the expense of Ben Johnson in game where the offense could do no wrong.
The narrative entering the week was that the Lions were in disarray following the offseason departure of Johnson. He was the mastermind behind the Lions’ offensive success and, after the Lions got beat down by the Packers in Week 1, it looked to be true. Now helming a Bears offense with plenty of young talent, there was optimism in Chicago—optimism that could translate to a road victory over the Lions. After all, Johnson knows the Lions defense well, is he not the best man to handle them?
Instead, Johnson looked vastly outcoached by his former mentor (Dan Campbell), his contemporary (John Morton), and his competition (Kelvin Sheppard). The Bears offense struggled mightily against the Detroit defense, giving up four sacks and a pair of turnovers (one interception, one fumble). Worse yet for Chicago, the team went 0-for-2 on fourth down, two costly turnover on downs that diverted any Bears momentum in Detroit’s favor.
It is still early in the season, but through two games, I have some suspicions that could become conclusions before too long: the Lions offense is still talented with a sky-high ceiling, hiring Ben Johnson is not a cure-all for the Bears’ woes, and the Packers defense is legitimate.
Marcus Davenport, DE
Looking purely at performance, Davenport has been solid across two games this year. Unfortunately, the nagging injury concerns have reared their head yet again. Davenport was banged up twice against the Bears. He first missed a few snaps with an ankle injury, but returned before long. His return was short lived, as he hurt his shoulder on a sack of Caleb Williams.
His status for next week is still up in the air, but the fact remains that his reliability is at rock bottom with all of these injuries. With Muhammad playing extremely well in relief, it might benefit Detroit to turn to him regardless.
Grant Stuard, KR
On paper, Stuard has been a fine returner. He is averaging around 24 yards per attempt, which is slightly below the league average. However, it feels like the Lions are settling for mediocrity by using Stuard as their kick returner. The new kickoff format has the potential to be an explosive play, yet Stuard offers little in that regard. Sure, Stuard being used as a kick returner is an anomaly among linebackers, but the novelty wore off after his preseason fumble. He has neither the speed nor the explosiveness to break off a sizeable return, as demonstrated by two of his first half returns. The blocking was there to spring him, but he could not hit the gap. As a runner, Stuard seemingly looks for contact—instead of trying to make a cut around a tackler, he lowers the boom preemptively.
Sione Vaki’s eventual return to the lineup could thrust Stuard out of the returner role, but I believe that should happen regardless.
Jonathan Vilma, FOX
Vilma has been atop my list of worst commentators for awhile now, and he further solidified it with an awful performance. I have grown to expect little from his insight or analysis, but he was clearly phoning it in on Sunday. Brian Branch, a star defender for the Lions, forced a crucial fumble. Vilma instead called him Deion Branch—a former wide receiver—not once, not twice, but thrice.
A misspoken name or two is not uncommon, and it is normally forgivable—little slip ups happen to the best of speakers. Saying a player’s name wrong three times in a row is not a mental error. It signals a lack of preparation or a lack of care—more likely a combination of both. Broadcasters should be held to higher standards. I am not expecting commentators to memorize every player’s high school stats or minor fun facts, but not knowing something as surface level as a player’s name is unacceptable.
