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The Detroit Lions might have insisted all week that their Week 2 clash with the Chicago Bears wasn’t about Ben Johnson, but safety Brian Branch wasn’t shy about telling the real story.
After Detroit rolled to a 52-21 win at Ford Field, head coach Dan Campbell and quarterback Jared Goff both took the high road, brushing aside any notion that Johnson’s new role in Chicago added extra fuel to the fire.
Brian Branch: “We felt betrayed”
When asked directly how much the Lions were motivated by facing their former offensive coordinator, Branch didn’t sugarcoat it:
“Very motivated,” Branch said via Pride of Detroit. “We knew coming into this game that this is personal. Really, all these games are personal. But this one was just—we felt like we’ve been betrayed from staff to players. We love Ben. We still love Ben. He’s a great coach and he’s a great mastermind, but yeah, it was time to get after him.”
Branch went on to clarify what exactly made it feel personal. It wasn’t just that Johnson left Detroit, it was where he landed.
“Yeah, he could’ve went anywhere else, but he’s got to see us again,” Branch added.
The Bigger Picture
Johnson helped transform Detroit’s offense into one of the league’s best before leaving to become Chicago’s head coach. His fingerprints are still all over the Lions’ scheme, and plenty of players, like Amon-Ra St. Brown, have been open about how much Johnson’s coaching helped their careers.
But Branch’s honesty reflects the underlying tension: it stings more when a respected coach crosses over to a division rival. The fact that Detroit’s defense came out flying, forcing turnovers and holding Chicago to just 21 points, shows just how personal this one really was.
The Bottom Line
While Campbell and Goff downplayed the rivalry angle, Brian Branch pulled back the curtain on how the Lions really felt. Johnson’s move to Chicago lit a fire under Detroit’s defense, and the Lions made sure to send a message loud and clear.
And in Branch’s words, that message was simple: you don’t betray this locker room without paying the price.
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Don Drysdale
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