Opinion: ‘Booing’ Ben Johnson As A Lions Fan Is Uncalled For

For three reasons, the week two matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears was a massive game:

1. The Lions were coming off a lackluster season opener against the Green Bay Packers and needed a solid win to reassure the fanbase and themselves that this was still a Super Bowl-worthy team.
2. This is the Lions' first matchup against former Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson, who was hired as the Head Coach of the Bears following the Lions' playoff loss last season.
3. The Bears are one of the Lions' biggest rivals. This game naturally has plenty of eyes on it.

After a last-second touchdown going into halftime, the Lions maintained that momentum and scored more points in the second half alone than Chicago did the entire game, resulting in a final score of 52-21. The dominance against the coach, whom many credit as the "mastermind" behind the Lions' offense, silenced the concerns many had going into this season.

Some light trolling by the defense after a turnover was a fun way to poke at Johnson. Still, there were points during the game where the behavior crossed a line, and it became a bit too disrespectful towards Ben Johnson, which, in my opinion, was unacceptable.

There is a sense of betrayal that can come from seeing a beloved coach go to a rival, but to boo and shout expletives at a guy who had a professional opportunity that is any coach's dream is unfair.

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People seem to be a bit too quick to forget all the good this guy did for the Lions franchise. In three seasons with the Lions, he helped turn the team around into what it was. The last two seasons have been a drastic escalation in proving what this organization was capable of.

Johnson could have left after the 2023 season, when the team went 12-5 and 2-1 in the playoffs, but he stuck around to try to run it back with Campbell and Aaron Glenn, the former defensive coordinator and now head coach of the New York Jets. Most in his position would have leapt at the opportunity, but he stayed for the franchise.

Fans had concerns about how both Jared Goff and Ben Johnson would function without each other. Goff certainly made a statement by having a career night with 334 yds, 5 TDs. But a bigger statement came after the game when Goff stated:

"I didn't like that. He did a lot for us. I don't know if he deserved that."

Animosity is understandable. Feeling betrayed is understandable. But the disrespect, especially when the Lions were up as much as they were, was unnecessary. The Lions' next game will be against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, September 22nd.