An all-time Bears blowout. 52-21 losers in Detroit. Down a quick three touchdowns in the second quarter there was still plenty of life in the road team. And time to mount a comeback. Rome Odunze catches his second touchdown pass of the game from Caleb Williams to draw the Bears within 21-14.
Then the Lions roll off 24 un-answered points to seize the day.
Odunze winds up with seven catches for 128 yards.
Caleb Williams 19/30 passing, 207 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 27 yards rushing, sacked four times. Williams even gets stuffed on back to back quarterback sneaks, needing just a short yard. Like he was pushing a couch up the stairs by himself, "Just got to go get it. I thought I got it on the first one. And I guess I got closer. The second one, I would say I got it, and the refs wind up setting it back. Just got to go get it."
Bears heard coach Ben Johnson, last year's offensive assistant coach of year with Detroit, gets a welcome back gift from the Lions; 52 points and a long flight home, "Listen, any time you lose a game like that, man it's a kick in the teeth." Johnson says. "Nothing about that feels good. Unfortunately, I've been through a number of these over the course of my career. They hurt. It stinks."
Johnson is not questioning his Bears' effort, "They fought the entire game. And when you play a good team on the road and you have turnovers and you don't convert on fourth down, and you give up explosive plays on defense, you know it can go sideways in a hurry. And that was really the name of the game."
Burned by his old quarterback, Jared Goff (334 yards, 5 TD's), and rushing scores from Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, Johnson's Bears allow 52 points, the most in a single game since 2014. Three points away from a Bears record.
"It was loud. We didn't hear certain things that we need to hear." Says cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. "The crowd was loud and we need to do a better job using our signals."
The Bears defense gets gouged for 511 total yards and 7 touchdowns.
Two starting defenders leave the game with recurring injuries; CB Jaylon Johnson (groin) and LB T.J. Edwards (hamstring).
The Bears (0-2) move on to face the Cowboys at Soldier Field next Sunday (9/21) at 3:25pm. Early lines favor the Bears by about one point.
Dallas (1-1) just rallied to beat the New York Giants in overtime, 40-37.
Kicker Brandon Aubrey connects on a game tying 64-yard field goal at the end of regulation and a game winning 46-yard field goal at the end of O-T.