Lions' Dan Campbell guarantees 'win" over Bears in Ben Johnson's return to Detroit

With both NFC North teams trying to avoid an 0-2 start, Lions' head coach Dan Campbell is guaranteeing his team will beat the Bears

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) makes a run at Soldier Field during a game against the Lions in 2024 | Audrey Richardson / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Because results temporarily supersede relationships, Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell will be more enemies than friends Sunday at Ford Field.

Past working partnership be damned, Campbell's Detroit Lions and Johnson's Chicago Bears enter the NFC North showdown both 0-1 and desperate for a victory. So fixated on winning is Campbell that this week he guaranteed a victory.

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"We're going to win this game," the Lions' fiery head coach and Johnson's former boss said Tuesday. "We have to."

Even at 0-1 and coming off a disappointing loss to a divisional rival, it feels a tad early in an 18-week journey to be reaching for the panic button or pulling out desperation motivational carrots. But no denying Sunday's stakes: Since 1990, NFL teams starting the season 1-1 have the playoffs 42 percent of the time; teams starting 0-2 only 12 percent.

The Bears squandered an 11-point fourth-quarter lead in losing to the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Now, on a short week, they travel to face the defending NFC North champs in the stadium Johnson called home as Lions' offensive coordinator before leaving for Chicago.

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"No one's going to feel sorry for us," Johnson said this week. "This is going to be a quick turnaround here to get going for Sunday in Detroit, our first road game. We gotta turn the page here quickly."

Said Campbell of the game's "reunion" narrative, "Ben's my friend. He's always going to be my friend. But nothing about that's going to change. We're going in, getting ready to play Chicago."

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) makes a catch against Lions safety Brian Branch (32) | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

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