Ben Johnson received quite the cold welcome from Detroit Lions fans in Week 2, with boos raining down on him as he walked on the field for the first time as the Chicago Bears' head coach. Of course, those boos turned to cheers very quickly as Detroit ran it up against their divisional rival, beating them emphatically by a final score of 52-21. Johnson never had a shot at upsetting his former team.
Throughout the game and in-between those cheers, though, fans began raining more expletive chants on Johnson, probably out of boredom. They were picked up on during FOX's broadcast of the game, and it was just another sour note added to Johnson's return.
There was one key Lions player that didn't enjoy those chants, though, and that was quarterback Jared Goff. He told reporters after the game that he "didn't like that" in reference to the "f--- Ben Johnson" chants.
"He did a lot for us here, and I don't know if he deserved that."
Goff unhappy with Lions fans' expletive Ben Johnson chant
Johnson had some amazing years with Goff, helping the quarterback and the Lions' offense to be towards the top of the league in scoring for the last three seasons at offensive coordinator. Detroit made the postseason in 2023 and 2024, with the former of those years seeing the Lions get to within one score of heading to the Super Bowl.
His contributions are nothing to ignore, and the Lions fans that booed Johnson in Week 2 were likely just caught up in the moment of seeing someone who voluntarily walked for a job with the Bears, a division rival. Maybe if he had left for any other team, things would be different. But, as Brian Branch said after the game, there's some friendly bitterness abound amongst some Lions players:
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"Very motivated. We knew coming into this game that this was personal — really all the games were personal...we love Ben, we still love Ben...but it was time to get after him," said Branch after the win.
At the end of the day, rivalries within the NFC North define its greatness. The Bears are not the only team that'll face a hostile crowd at Ford Field this season - Johnson's inclusion as a member of Chicago's organization just adds some fuel to the Lions' fire.