All week, the Detroit Lions have downplayed the narrative that Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears had anything to do with coach Ben Johnson.
We knew he’d have them ready to go, and reared up and going.” Safety Brian Branch, however, said almost the complete opposite.
When asked how much the team was motivated by facing Johnson, here was his response: “Very motivated,” Branch said.
He heard Lions fans chanting, “Fuck Ben Johnson” several times throughout the day, and found it unnecessary.
The Lions and Bears don’t face off again until the final week of the regular season.
The Detroit Lions have denied any connection between coach Ben Johnson and Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears throughout the week. The team’s offensive coordinator from the previous season, Johnson, left for a division rival, but Detroit insisted that this game was about them making amends for last week’s humiliating loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Both quarterback Jared Goff and coach Dan Campbell persisted in promoting that line following Detroit’s 52–21 victory over Johnson’s Bears.
“It wasn’t disrespectful at all,” Goff stated. We recognize the kind of coach he is, and I believe we have a great deal of respect for him. We were certain that he would have them prepared and ready to go. “”.
The exact opposite, however, was stated by Safety Brian Branch. Here is his response to the question of how much the team was inspired by playing Johnson.
Extremely driven, Branch remarked. “We were aware that this was a personal game going into it. All of these games are genuinely personal. However, we felt as though the players and staff had betrayed us in this instance. Ben is loved by us. We still adore Ben. It was time to take him on, even though he is an excellent coach and mastermind. “”.
Branch responded that Johnson’s transfer to a division rival felt like the biggest betrayal when pressed to elaborate on his remarks.
Branch stated, “Yes, he could have gone anywhere else, but he needs to see us once more.”.
But there was one thing that Goff did not like. He thought it unnecessary to hear Lions supporters yelling, “Fuck Ben Johnson,” multiple times during the day.
Yes, that didn’t sit well with me. He did a lot for us here, I believed. “I’m not sure if he deserved that,” Goff remarked.
Any drama that may still exist between the two will have to wait. The last week of the regular season is when the Lions and Bears will play each other again.
