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Lions versatile safety Brian Branch one of defensive standouts in win over Bears

ALLEN PARK — When Dan Campbell listed the outstanding defensive players from the 52-21 win over the Bears, safety Brian Branch was at the top of the list.

Branch had a standout game with a pretty nice stat line — he forced a fumble, had a sack and made six tackles.

On Monday, Campbell said Branch makes life much easier on the pages because of his versatility.

“We bring it up all the time, he’s a safety that has cover ability like a corner, he can blitz like a linebacker and tackling and fill in the run gaps,’’ Campbell said. “There’s so many different things he can do. The guy is a major asset for us.’’

After Sunday’s game the Lions are 1-1, the Bears 0-2.

It was a huge bounceback for Detroit after a lackluster loss at Green Bay in Week 1.

“It showed us what we’re capable of doing. We know how good we are when we execute what coach Shep (DC Kelvin Sheppard) calls,’’ Branch said. “Coach Shep called a great ball game … Just moving forward we re-established our brand of football

Facing Ben Johnson, Bears head coach and former Lions offensive coordinator, was down-played leading up to Sunday, afterward Branch wasn’t afraid to share his feelings.

“Really, all these games are personal, but this one we felt like we’d been betrayed from the staff to players,’’ Branch said. “And we love Ben, we still love Ben. He’s a great coach. He’s a great mastermind but, yeah, it was time to get after him.”

Branch explained they felt betrayed because Johnson went to an NFC North opponent.

The Lions won’t face the Bears again until the final game of the regular season. Date to be determined but likely Jan 3 or 4.

INJURIES: Marcus Davenport left the game early with a shoulder injury. Campbell doesn’t have all the test results in yet, but he’s hoping he won’t be out too long.

UP NEXT: Lions (1-1) at Baltimore Ravens (1-1), 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back and routed the Bears, 52-21

DETROIT — For the Detroit Lions, the train might have nearly gone off the track a week ago in Green Bay, but the boys were back on Sunday in a 52-21 rout of the Chicago Bears at Ford Field

“I’ve said this all along, this train keeps rolling and it’s always going to start with the players,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “We have players, we have playmakers, and they’re made the right way. They’re the right kind of guys. They know how to get in the ditch and just start digging. They don’t worry about the other stuff.’’

The fact they were facing former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, now the Bears head coach, did not play a huge role in their turn-around. Moreso it was just motivation to win a division game.

Both offensive and defensive lines stepped up their games.

“I knew we would play better because our guys came into work and we knew what we needed to clean up and we worked at cleaning it up,’’ Campbell said. “They had the right look and they came out fighting – that’s what they do.”

The Lions came out and scored the first touchdown on a 5-play, 60-yard drive ending with a Jahmyr Gibbs 6-yard touchdown run.

They were up 28-14 at the half and held the Bears to just one touchdown in the second half. The Lions moved to 1-1 while the Bears dropped to 0-2.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jared Goff pitched a near-perfect game, passing for five touchdowns and completing 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards. He got plenty of help from WR Amon-Ra St. Brown who caught nine balls for three touchdowns and 115 yards. “He’s a stud. He’s as good as they get in our league, he’s a stud, he does everything in the run game, everything in the pass game,’’ Goff said. “As reliable of a player as I’ve ever thrown to in my life. We have a pretty good chemistry going on in our fifth year. We push each other really hard.’’

TWO: Explosive plays were huge. Goff threw five passes of 29 or more yards. Jameson Williams had just 2 catches — one for 64, the other a 44-yard touchdown. He wasn’t alone. “It always starts with the O-line here, it does, probably most teams but for sure us. When they play well it allows us to do a lot,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: The defense made huge stops, none better than stuffing the Bears on back-to-back plays of third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter. Safety Brian Branch was all over the field finishing with a sack, a forced fumble, a pass defense, two tackles for loss and six tackles. Bears QB Caleb Williams was sacked four times with Aidan Hutchinson getting first sack of the season and Branch, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Marcus Davenport also pitching in. “Just moving forward we re-established our brand of football,’’ Branch said.

FOUR: The Lions created two turnovers with a Kerby Joseph second-quarter interception that led to a Brock Wright TD catch. Earlier Branch forced a fumble with Jack Campbell recovering. Terion Arnold’s interception with 12:15 left was negated by a roughing the passer penalty. “It’s huge in this league, that’s what it’s all about getting takeaways, coach Campbell and coach Shep (DC Kelvin Sheppard), all our coaches preach that — no matter what the offense is doing the defense has to force turnovers,’’ Branch said, “We force turnovers then it gives our offense another chance to score.’’

FIVE: The offensive line settled down and was much improved from Week 1. RBs Jahmyr Gibbs (12-94 yards, 1 TD) and David Montgomery (11-57, 1 TD) got the run game in gear averaging 5.9 yards per carry – much improved over 2.1 in the Green Bay opener. Gibbs scampered 42 yards to set up another Goff-St. Brown touchdown late in the third. Goff could see the line really jell. “In particular, Tate (Ratledge) and (Christian) Mahogany as younger players were able to get last week out of the way and settle in a little bit today,’’ Goff said. “More Tate than Mahogany who had experience last year. I thought Tate played great today. I haven’t seen the tape but at least in pass pro I felt firm there, you felt strong, it felt like he was pushing downhill.’’

UP NEXT: Lions (1-1) at Baltimore Ravens (1-1), Monday, Sept. 22 at 8:15 p.m.

Bears at Lions: Five things to watch as both seek first win; plus prediction

The NFL schedule makers have already made the Lions’ season interesting and it’s only Week 2. Teams from the NFC North, widely considered the best division, have been pitted against each other early.

The Lions (0-1), coming off a loss to the Packers, hope to get back on track Sunday when they face the Chicago Bears (0-1) in the home opener. Last week the Bears (0-1) lost to the Vikings (1-0) and on Thursday night the Packers jumped out to a 2-0 start, defeating the Commanders.

Lions coach Dan Campbell doesn’t think the early results put extra pressure on his team.

“Anything to where we’re forced to compete is a good thing,’’ Campbell said. “And I love that, man. And we already knew what we were coming into this year with this division. It’s a tough division, man.’’

The Lions’ offense struggled against the Packers while the defense had its moments.

Still, Campbell is concerned about his bunch, not the other three division rivals.

“At some point, every team’s going to hit adversity whether it’s early, it’s in the middle of the season, it’s late. And it’s just about playing your best football by the end of the year,’’ Campbell said. “And so, we can’t worry about the Packers. We can’t worry about Minnesota. We worry about ourselves first, and then Chicago because they’re the next opponent.”

Five things to watch against the Bears:

ONE: Left tackle Taylor Decker did not practice all week with a shoulder injury. On Friday, Campbell couldn’t say whether he will play on Sunday but clarified that Decker wants to play

“He’s got a little bit something here, so we’re just trying to buy him some time here to where he feels better. A lot of it, too, is the luxury of – Decker’s played a lot of football. And so, he’ll be ready as long as it feels right,’’ Campbell said. “But yeah, we feel good right now. And there again, we still have another day here and we’ll see. So, I can’t give you a definitive yes, but that’s where it’s at.”

TWO: Decker’s absence would be especially tough because the offensive line had communication issues last week which was part of the reason the run game averaged a lousy 2.1 yards per carry. When the Lions can’t run the ball, the offense struggles to move the ball. If he’s out, Giovanni Manu would get the call at tackle. Manu has not started an NFL game.

THREE: Look for rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa get more involved. He made a beauty of a catch late in the Packers’ loss. He took just 3 offensive snaps because he had missed a day of practice leading up to the game. He has practiced each day this week. “I think his catching ability is big time, I’ve said that before, but he’s smart and he’s tough,’’ offensive coordinator John Morton said. “He didn’t have a lot of plays in the game but he came in, that was an unbelievable catch. So, his role will be expanded. He will help us.”

FOUR: While much is made of Ben Johnson’s move to Chicago as head coach, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is a powerhouse. “Somebody asked me this the other day. They play hard, they’re smart, they’re disciplined, they’re aggressive, they’re tough. I mean, I think I stated it all,’’ Campbell said. “He’s an outstanding coach, man. He does it right, he knows how to teach, he knows how to communicate, and he knows how to put those players in position to have success, man. He finds one-on-ones.”

FIVE: The Lions’ pass rush needs to improve. They did not sack Jordan Love at all. “They were nudging, chipping all day and getting the ball out. They weren’t going to allow it. Go back with your stopwatch and turn on the pass plays, they weren’t going to allow it. But more importantly I thought – I want to give credit to our guys for not letting this guy out of the pocket,’’ defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “That’s things that we’ve struggled with in years past. Jordan Love has burned us in years past with his legs. He had one run, I think, for four yards. So, I want to look at the positives in that. Yeah, we could’ve done things and things like that, but we had a specific gameplan and for the most part, the guys went out and executed the gameplan. And I just gave you the stats. That should’ve been a dominant outing on Sunday, and it will be moving forward.” Bears’ QB Caleb Johnson’s mobility will provide a different type of challenge.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Bears 24

UP NEXT: Lions at Ravens, 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22.