Bears/Lions
The Lions’ 50-burger wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary for a Detroit team that has been a top-five offense for the past three years. But this time was different because former OC Ben Johnson wasn’t at the wheels with a play sheet, he was on the opposite sideline as the head coach of the Bears. Lions S Brian Branch told reporters Johnson “could have went anywhere” and it wasn’t lost on the building that he chose a division rival. There definitely was a sense after the game that the Lions were sending a message.
“We knew coming into this game that this is personal, really, all these games are personal,” Branch said via Pro Football Talk. “But this one was just, we felt like we’ve been, you know, betrayed from the staff to the players. We love Ben. We still love Ben. He’s a great coach. He’s a great mastermind. But yeah, it was time to get after them.”
After the game, Johnson wasn’t giving the Lions any more bulletin board material. Lions HC Dan Campbell went for it on fourth-and-goal with eight minutes left in the game ahead by 24 points and Detroit scored another touchdown.
“What’s he supposed to do?” Johnson said with a matter-of-fact tone, per the Athletic’s Dan Wiederer. “It’s fourth-and-goal. What do you want him to do? Yeah, he could have kicked a field goal. But they don’t kick field goals. They go for it. So he was doing what he’s supposed to do.”
“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, it can go sideways in a hurry,” Johnson added. “That was really the name of the game.”
Vikings
For the second week in a row, the Vikings spent most of a primetime matchup floundering around on offense behind young QB J.J. McCarthy. But unlike Week 1 when McCarthy found a groove in the fourth quarter, the Vikings never caught their stride and lost to the Falcons 22-6 to fall to 1-1 on the season. Afterward Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell was preaching patience.
“This is going to be a process for our team,” O’Connell said via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “Our young quarterback is going to make some plays. He’s going to make some unbelievable throws. … And then, other times, he’s going to have an attempt and just miss something a little long, and we will go back and try to fix it. Sometimes, the fundamentals are going to be right, the technique is going to be right, but he’s learning on the fly right now. The way you overcome that is by the full group’s execution level being to a certain standard that we can go try to compete and win with.”
Sunday night was a tough one for McCarthy. He was sacked six times, threw two interceptions, fumbled three times and lose one. He also missed a fair amount of throws, including an overthrow on what would have been a go-ahead, walk-in touchdown to WR Jalen Nailor.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” McCarthy said. “I’ve got a lot to do personally. There’s a lot of things about this game that show up. It’s awesome to be part of such a great group where I know we’re going to grow together, I know we’re going to learn together. There’s a lot of love in that locker room. That’s what it comes down to. This is a long season. Everyone is telling me this is a frickin’ journey, and I believe them wholeheartedly.”
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