Chicago Bears Score and Recap (Week 2): Lions 52, Bears 21 – Secondary Shredded In Blowout Loss

The Bears traveled to Detroit Sunday afternoon hoping to recover from a second half meltdown against the Vikings. Chicago had major defensive issues from the beginning of the game and things went very badly late as the home team rolled to a blowout victory.

It took the Lions just five plays to take the opening drive to the end zone with Jahmyr Gibbs running it in from 9 yards out. Caleb Williams and the Bears offense were sharp in their first drive as well with a nifty 28-yard pass hook up with Rome Odunze for a game-tying touchdown.

Detroit put together another lightning drive needing only four plays and having former Bear David Montgomery punch in the TD. Williams threw an interception late in the second quarter and it led to Jared Goff passing to Brock Wright for a touchdown that increased the advantage to 21-7.

Chicago responded again when Williams connected with Odunze for his second TD of the game to make it 21-14 just past the two minute warning. Unfortunately, the defense could not keep Goff and the Lions off the scoreboard before the half and Amon-Ra St. Brown pulled in a score with just two seconds left in the quarter and it was 28-14 at the break.

Detroit never looked back from that point, scoring the first 17 points of the second half to turn this contest into a laugher. Jameson Williams and St. Brown each had receiving touchdowns and the margin was 45-14.

Both squads picked up a garbage-time touchdown but the outcome was never in doubt with the lions winning 52-21. (Box score)

Why the Bears Lost

The undermanned secondary got absolutely shredded by Detroit and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Key Moment

The Bears appeared to have caught a break when the clock ran out on the Lions in the first half after a catch by Isaac TeSlaa inside the 10 yard line. The referees had a discussion and determined they incorrectly ruled the play out of bounds but since they blew the whistle could only have a 10 second run off which gave Detroit the opportunity to score a touchdown. If the correct call has been made from the beginning the clock would have expired and the game would have been 21-14 at the break.

Stats That Matter

• Caleb Williams threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns. He did a decent job and certainly was not the reason why his team lost.
• Odunze had the best game of his career with 128 yards and two touchdowns.
• Jaylon Johnson had to exit the game with a groin injury, which definitely did not help the secondary.

Bottom Line

That was a very rough afternoon for the Bears especially defensively. Clearly Ben Johnson’s squad is not ready to hang with the elite teams in the NFC North. One glaring weakness for Chicago is at the running back position where the only option seems to be D’Andre Swift and it has left them one-dimensional offensively, which is not good for a young quarterback.

Next Up

The Bears hope to get their first win of the season in Week 3 when the Dallas Cowboys come to Soldier Field for a game Sunday at 3:25pm CT on FOX.