The Lions owe a lot to Ben Johnson. They also felt like Johnson was owed a little payback. After Johnson left the Lions for the rival Bears and took a couple playful jabs at Jared Goff on his way out the door -- with Detroit's defense catching a stray -- "we had a chip on our shoulder coming into this game," Brian Branch said after the Lions routed Johnson's new team in his return to Ford Field, "and we wanted to dominate."
That they did, in a 52-21 demolition. Branch, who forced one of two turnovers for Detroit with a thunderous hit on former Lions running back D'Andre Swift, said the team was "very motivated" knowing that Johnson was on the other sideline.
"We knew coming into this game that this is personal -- really all these games are personal. But this one was just, we felt like we’d been betrayed from the staff to the players," said Branch. "And we love Ben, we still love Ben. He’s a great coach, he’s a great mastermind, but it was time to get after him."
Johnson was close to a hero around here during his three seasons as Lions offensive coordinator. He helped revive Goff's career and build an offense that led Detroit to the most wins in the NFL over the last two seasons and back to back division titles for the first time in the Super Bowl era. He quickly became a villain upon his exit, starting with what some fans viewed as cavalier -- maybe even carless -- play-calling in the Lions' playoff loss last season to the Commanders.
Shortly after his arrival in Chicago, Johnson touted his excitement to work with "an athlete" at quarterback in Caleb Williams "because I haven’t really been around that since I’ve been in the league. But I’ve been on the other side ... and it’s demoralizing when you’re watching that happen to your defense." In the wake of a playoff disaster in which Goff committed four turnovers while Jayden Daniels tore the Lions' defense apart, Johnson's comments were not received well in Detroit. Kerby Joseph took note on social media. So did Amik Robertson.
Joseph came down with the Lions' second takeaway on Sunday with a diving interception on a play where Williams' athleticism was his own downfall. In an effort to do exactly what Johnson said he was most excited about in contrast to Goff -- "extend the play and potentially find an explosive down the field" -- Williams flung a reckless pass to no one in particular that left Johnson saying afterward, "He’s got to throw it away."
It was no mistake that Joseph celebrated by gathering Detroit's defense in the end zone and recreating Johnson's famous stumblebum play that the Lions ran for a touchdown last season in Chicago. And it just so happened that when Robertson caught Joseph's pass running down the Bears' sideline, he threw his arms into the air and reveled in the sight of the coach looking back at him.
"I caught the ball and Ben was right there, so I gave him a little stare-down," Robertson said with a smile.
While former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn took a head-coaching job in the AFC with the Jets, Johnson stayed in the NFC North. Hence the feeling of betrayal, said Branch: "He could've went anywhere else -- but he gotta see us again."
Branch, per usual, was all over the field on Sunday. In addition to his forced fumble, he had a sack, another quarterback hit and two tackles for loss. He almost had a second sack, but instead incurred a roughing-the-passer penalty that wiped out what would have been Terrion Arnold's first career pick. Blitzing into Williams' face, Branch leapt in an attempt to knock down his pass and hit Williams in the neck/helmet on his way down.
By the letter of the law, it was probably the right call. In Branch's view, "I don't get how that’s roughing the passer when I’m jumping and it wasn’t even late, to me."
"I'm just coming down. It’s not like I’m running full speed and I just bulldoze into him (after) he got rid of the ball. He let it go, I was already in the air and I just came down and he ducked, so I don’t know, I disagree with it," he said. "But I owe Terrion. I took away his first career interception and I feel bad, but I’m going to get him one again."
By the end of the game, Johnson's return was a footnote. The real story was the statement the Lions made -- to themselves, as much as anyone -- that they remain a force to be reckoned with after their season-opening loss to the Packers. Their dominance of the Bears, said Branch, "showed us that we know what we’re capable of doing, we know how good we are when we execute what" the coaches call. This was true on both sides of the ball.
Dan Campbell's Lions are as hard as ever to break.
"We re-established our brand of football," said Branch. "This was an important game."