The Chicago Bears head to Detroit for their first road game of the season Sunday against a Lions team also looking to avoid an 0-2 start in the NFC North Division.

While the Bears coughed up a 17-6 fourth-quarter lead against the Minnesota Vikings in a 27-24 loss in Week 1, the Lions were overwhelmed by the Green Bay Packers in a 27-13 defeat.

Bears coach and former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson returns to Ford Field to face his former team for the first time.

Here’s a look at what to watch in this Week 2 matchup.

Ben Bowl I

When the Bears hired Johnson as a first-time head coach in January, quarterback Jared Goff was quick to credit his former OC for turning around his career.

Months later, Goff, like other Lions players, seemed fatigued with questions about the “Ben Johnson narrative.”

“I think we’ve put it behind us, to be honest,” Goff said this week. “There’s certainly not a narrative in here of anything about last season.

“We’re very aware that last year we had a good year. … Now we’re 0-1 and very aware of the reality of that.”

As offensive coordinator, Johnson took over a 22nd-ranked unit in 2021 and led them to fourth- (’22), third- (’23) and second-place finishes in yards per game over the next three seasons.

“What he did is what he did, and we were good, there’s no question about it,” Lions assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery said. “But every season is an absolute new season.”

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, left, works alongside coach Dan Campbell during a game against the Bears on Nov. 28, 2024, at Ford Field in Detroit. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Johnson seemed to want to downplay the reunion during a news conference Wednesday at Halas Hall, but the first question came from a Detroit reporter, who essentially asked Johnson if he felt guilty about leaving the Lions to join a division rival.

“Everything last year ran through my head, and that was one of the unfortunate parts of making that decision was you were saying goodbye to a lot of friends and a great place,” Johnson said.

What has endured, Johnson said, is his bond with Lions coach Dan Campbell, who has kept in touch through texts.

“That friendship is always going to be there,” Johnson said. “I view him like family, and I think he would tell you the same thing. That will never change. We have fond memories of back when I was just a young, snot-nosed computer punk, as he likes to call it, in Miami.”

Campbell and Johnson overlapped on the Dolphins staff from 2012-15, when Campbell was tight ends coach and later interim head coach and Johnson was an offensive assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach and later tight ends coach.

Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle also goes back with Campbell to their days with the New Orleans Saints.

“I have a lot of positive feelings for Dan,” said Doyle, who was a Saints offensive assistant in 2019 and ’20 when Campbell was assistant head coach/tight ends coach. “He’s a very authentic person. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and it makes players really want to play for him.”

Player in the spotlight

Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa catches a 13-yard touchdown pass behind Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine during the second half Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Green Bay. (Matt Ludtke/AP)

Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa

You might be thinking, “Isaac who?” but TeSlaa scored the only touchdown for the Lions against the Packers, a 13-yard catch on 4th-and-3 in the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-4, 214-pound rookie out of Arkansas adds another big target for Goff, particularly in the red zone. His 96 athleticism score at the combine was the highest among wide receivers in his draft class, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

Montgomery joked that TeSlaa “was just average as a rookie in the (wide receiver) room — he didn’t keep the snacks in there. (To) Saint (Amon Ra St. Brown), that wasn’t good. And Saint let him know that wasn’t good and he fixed it.”

Then St. Brown and Jameson Williams took him under their wings, and he since has blossomed.

“There was a lot of respect connected to him for making that (TD) play in the game because of everything that he went through last week from his illness,” Montgomery said. “We look forward to seeing him a lot more, and this will be his real first week of full work. So (I) don’t know (his usage yet) … how much (Campbell and offensive coordinator John Morton) want to see him, but look, man, this guy’s been good. This guy’s doing exactly what we want.”

TeSlaa is one of the many weapons Dennis Allen said will challenge his Bears defense.

“St. Brown is a hell of a player, and they use him in a lot of different ways,” Allen said. “He’s an incredible route runner. Jameson, with his speed, becomes challenging, especially on the downfield throws or the throws where he’s trying to run across the field. …

“And then the rookie TeSlaa, he’s a big-bodied receiver that has the ability to make contested catches. They’ve got a lot of weapons.”

Keep an eye on …

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws for a first down to wide receiver Rome Odunze as Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman defends in the first quarter Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Caleb Williams’ footwork

In an erratic second half Monday night, Williams went 8-for-19 for 98 yards, a 42% completion rate.

But the Next Gen Stats illustrate how much Williams was off-target on makeable throws: He tied the Carolina Panthers’ Bryce Young for the lowest completion percentage above expectation at minus-13.2%.

“On every snap we’re expecting all of our guys to do their job, and on that snap his job is to deliver a clean, catchable ball,” Doyle said. “And we don’t do that, and so there’s a lapse.”

Williams had an explanation.

“The coming in spurts aspect of it, I think it came from something as simple as the footwork and just being on top of that and being smooth with that,” he said. “Even if the footwork was right, it’s just being smooth with it and not being hesitant and letting it rip.”

Johnson agreed: “When he was doing it properly, the ball came out on time and I thought he was delivering accurate footballs.”

It’s something coaches are helping Williams work through.

“You’re correcting each play as they come,” Doyle said. “The biggest thing is watching it, evaluating it, making sure that he is getting the correction and he’s seeing exactly where he needs to improve the next time we do it, with the fundamentals and mechanics that we’re going to ask him to use.

“And we’re going to get better moving forward.”

Renewal of the Sewell rivalry

Bears linebacker Noah Sewell and Lions tackle and big brother Penei Sewell will face each other for the third time Sunday.

Penei said he’ll wait till after the game to catch up with Noah: “I’m just letting him do his thing. … We both have to go to work. I don’t want him to think anything different. I want his best.”

They call each other by their gamertags: Noah’s is “Blessed” and Penei’s “Kool Aid.”

Noah, who had a game-high nine tackles in Week 1, recalled one time they went up against each other when Penei was a freshman at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah.

“I was going to eighth grade and I went up for one practice, and then he got me good with a good pull,” Noah said. “So I’m hoping I can get my lick back.”

Predictions

Brad Biggs (0-1)

It’s high stakes in Week 2 when considering the loser will fall to 0-2. The Lions’ schedule is brutal moving forward too. They play in Baltimore next week, followed by a home game against the Cleveland Browns and then trips to Cincinnati and Kansas City, Mo., before hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all before a bye in Week 8. In the first game without Ben Johnson, the Lions were out of sorts last week in Green Bay, averaging 2.67 yards on first down. A once-powerful offensive line now has major question marks from guard to guard. If the Bears can exploit that interior, they could wreak havoc on Jared Goff. The Bears have much to clean up after falling flat against J.J. McCarthy in his first NFL start.

Lions 24, Bears 20

Sean Hammond (1-0)

The Lions struggled to run the ball against the Packers in Week 1, but it’s only a matter of time before they get the ground game going. Ford Field is going to be a challenging environment for a Bears offense that struggled with penalties at home in Week 1. I do think the Bears find the end zone a few times, but I don’t see them keeping up with the Lions.

Lions 27, Bears 20

Phil Thompson (0-1)

You know what the Vikings had? A running back in Jordan Mason who could gash the Bears defense up the middle and another in Aaron Jones who could stress them on the edges and in the passing game. You know what the Lions have? David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Jaylon Johnson’s return to action would help, but even with him, the Bears secondary might be outmanned by the Lions’ bevy of talented pass catchers.

Lions 28, Bears 24

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/12/chicago-bears-detroit-lions-predictions/