DETROIT — Bears fans dreaming of their next head coach had to be impressed by Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in the first half of Thursday’s game.
In the second? Not so much.
The Lions dominated the Bears in the first two quarters of their eventual 23-20 win. When the teams ran into the locker room, the Lions had run a whopping 47 plays for 279 yards — 144 on the ground and 135 in the air.
They led 16-0, but it felt like a bigger score. One reason: Jahmyr Gibbs’ fumble at the Bears’ 6 with a minute to play in the half.
“We had a chance to make it 28-0, or whatever it would have been if we had scored all the touchdowns and even at the end on that drive at the end of the half, make it 23-0, or even 19-0 if we had a field goal,” said Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who went 21-for-34 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and a 100.2 passer rating. “But you just know that you kind of left the door open a little bit and you know, ‘Alright, this is going to be a game now … (We) have to kind of fight for it now and continue to finish this game.’ And I thought [the Bears] fought back well.”
The Lions struggled in their four possessions of the second half, punting twice, missing a field goal and scoring a third-quarter touchdown. Their three drives in the fourth quarter produced 12 plays for 48 yards and only two first downs. They had 126 yards in the second half, less than half their first-half total.
Johnson, who turned down head coaching opportunities last year, will be the hottest offensive coordinator when the head coaching carousel starts to spin. His Lions are 11-1 and are the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl.
Montgomery burns
Lions running back David Montgomery, who spent his first four seasons with the Bears before joining the Lions because he wanted to win more, paced the team with 21 carries for 88 yards. He caught three passes for 36 yards, too.
After the game, Goff ate the ceremonial turkey leg on CBS.
Montgomery had carrots.
“I don’t know,” Goff said, “he maybe wasn’t hungry.”
Another bad challenge
Bears coach Matt Eberflus challenged an incomplete pass in the first quarter, arguing that Lions receiver Jameson Williams actually caught the ball and fumbled, with the ball recovered by the Bears. He lost — again. Eberflus is 0-for-5 on challenges this season and has the worst record in the NFL among any coach not in his first season.
Eberflus threw a challenge flag later in the game that he would have likely won, but the play was overturned by officials before they could turn to instant replay.
Notes
• Right tackle Darnell Wright, the Bears’ first-round pick a year ago, left the game with a knee injury in the third quarter. He was replaced by backup Larry Borom.
• Cornerback Kyler Gordon was flagged for a horse collar tackle when he tackled Gibbs short of the sticks on third-and-eight in the third quarter.
Gordon, who appeared to grab Gibbs’ hair eventually, said that Gibbs was down before anything happened. He said he asked the official for an explanation and didn’t get one.
“I asked him and he ignored me,” Gordon said. “You can’t make this stuff up. They’re just gonna do what they’re gonna do.”
• Allen hurt his ankle when he was rolled up on from behind in the fourth quarter, but soon returned to the game.
“Little ankle sprain,” he said.
• Lions receiver Jameson Williams hurdled safety Kevin Byard on an end around in the third quarter.