DETROIT, MI., — The Chicago Bears have dug themselves into an early hole this season, falling to 0-2 after a dreadful Week 2 performance against the Detroit Lions.
With Ben Johnson returning to face his former team, he got a rude awakening via Dan Campbell and the Lions in the tune of a 52-21 loss. While Chicago kept it close through the first quarter or so, they unraveled again in the second half and it was similar mistakes that haunted them.
Chicago committed 8 penalties for 50 yards, including five on offensive linemen alone. That put Chicago behind the sticks early and often, allowing them not to recover. The 52 points are also the most the Bears have allowed in the Ryan Poles era.
The Lions started fast thanks to a short field, beginning at their own 40 after Cairo Santos' opening kickoff went out of bounds. After that, it took the Lions five plays to go 60 yards as Jahmyr Gibbs found the end zone on a six-yard touchdown run.
Chicago answered back with an impressive drive of their own as Caleb Williams led the Bears down the field on an eight-play drive and 74 yards, with the quarterback hitting Rome Odunze on third down for a 28-yard touchdown. It was the first of two touchdowns to Odunze, the other also coming in the first half. While Chicago had a chance to take the lead after they forced a punt, more mistakes gave the ball to Detroit.
And the Lions capitalized.
Detroit outscored the Bears 45-14 the rest of the way, beginning with two-straight touchdown drives as David Montgomery ran it in from one-yard out and then Jared Goff finding Brock Wright for an eight-yard score.
Chicago did cut the lead down to 21-14 after Williams once again hit Odunze, this time for six yards with 1:55 left in the first half. But then things unraveled for the Bears.
Detroit marched down the field before the halftime whistle and after Isaac TeSlaa hauled in a 29-yard pass from Goff to set them up at the four-yard line. There was confusion however, as the Lions ran up to spike it. With time expiring and the Bears walking back to the locker room, the refs ruled that one official said he was in bounds while the other called him out of bounds. The clock was at 16 seconds when they reviewed it through replay assist. A 10-second run-off moved the clock to six seconds, and the Lions threw a touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 28-14 lead.
The Lions dominated the second half as Chicago's offense struggled with penalties and moving the football. Detroit's offense took advantage and steamrolled the Bears in that second half, moving the ball up and down the field.
Detroit finished the game with 511 total yards of offense, 25 first downs. Chicago now moves on to Week 3 and will host the Dallas Cowboys.
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