Bear Digest

Best option for panicky Lions fans might involve Chicago Bears

Analysis: The Lions suffered an emarrassing loss in the meaningless Hall of Fame Game in their first action without Ben Johnson but their answer could be just 5 1/2 months away.
Gene Chamberlain|
The Bears and Lions are now forever intertwined and the results of this are already being seen.
The Bears and Lions are now forever intertwined and the results of this are already being seen. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The most predictable part of the NFL preseason occurred in the very first game, and with it the most predictable reaction.

The Detroit Lions were terrible in a meaningless Hall of Fame Game on offense and the absence of Ben Johnson from their coaching staff was blamed repeatedly on social media as the reason.


It's the Hall of Fame Game. To quote Aaron Rodgers, "relax." The Bears won the Hall of Fame Game last year 21-17 and about seven weeks later lost to Houston. A preseason game means nothing, especially the first of four when almost everyone else plays three.

The very name of the new Bears head coach is treated by many Lions fans with disdain and by some others as the only reason for Detroit's success. The two teams are forever intertwined now and the results are being felt.

Or at least they're intertwined as long as these coaching staffs remain with the two organizations.

NBC announcers Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth rarely need to say much to raise the ire of fans for whatever team's game they're broadcasting, and that goes for fans of both teams.

But in this case just the mention of Johnson became a source for Lions fans to explode online..

This is going to go on all year, so get used to it. Maybe it will end after a season, or even after the Week 2 game between the teams, but most likely will take longer.

This is not to suggest the Lions fans are going to be angry and their team losing all year. In fact, it probably will turn out they're still good.

Overall, their talent is the same or even better because of an improved and healthier defense.

Rather, it's going to be an overreaction against Ben Johnson or to the Lions all year revolving around how the Bears or Lions play.

It's the nature of social media and also the NFL. It's a week-to-week league and it's made for the overreaction and rants on social media clicked out in seconds afterward.

So, the Bears lose this year and Lions fans will be crowing about how he was overrated as their coordinator.

The Lions lose this year and it's never going to be the same under offensive coordinator Chad Morton because he's not Johnson.

The Bears win and Lions lose, the Bears will be smarter than the average NFL team for paying out the money for Johnson.

The Bears lose and Lions win, it was all because Dan Campbell was the brains of the operation and Johnson was only the reason they lost to Washington in the playoffs.

Got it?

Now that this has been explained, it's all out there so the overreactions should be resisted. They won't be, though.

Besides, there's no reason for the Lions to be too upset. It might only last for a year.

When the Lions are terrible on offense this year, in January they can always try to hire away Declan Doyle, Press Taylor, Eric Bieniemy or Antwaan Randle El from Johnson's Chicago staff with the promise they can call plays for Campbell.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.