The Detroit Lions’ offense didn’t look like its old self in the team’s season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Detroit’s plethora of offensive stars couldn’t break through to make plays like they had in the past in a 27-13 loss. The group lacked the dynamic scoring that had made it so lethal with Ben Johnson, who left to become the Chicago Bears head coach this offseason, calling plays.

But the Bears don’t plan on taking the Lions lightly , Sunday at Ford Field after only one game.

“They still got all the same guys for the most part,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson told reporters on Thursday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. “But they’re a talented group, talented offense, experienced. I think that’s going on their third year of really all their guys. So, for me, it doesn’t change too much. I mean, just because you have one down game or first week doesn’t really mean too much.”

Sunday was an offensive low the Lions hadn’t experienced in a while. Detroit’s 13 points against the Packers were the fewest it scored in a game since the Lions scored 13 at the Bears on Dec. 10, 2023.

The Lions failed to get many of their stars going against a Packers defense that added superstar defensive end Micah Parsons this offseason. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs each rushed for 25 or fewer yards, while tight end Sam LaPorta was the only wide receiver to finish with more than 50 receiving yards.

Detroit faced a tough task in its first game with key new pieces. John Morton called his first game as the Lions’ offensive coordinator while the offensive line adjusted to life without Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler.

“Well, I mean, it’s Week 1 in the NFL,” Ben Johnson said. “There’s really a lot of unknown that pops up. I thought Green Bay came out flying around. I thought that’s what showed up on their tape was that the defense was all over the field. They were relentless. They have some young players up front. I anticipate them to be much improved this week.”

The Bears will use everything to find ways to stop the Lions’ playmakers, including Ben Johnson’s knowledge of his former players.

Johnson told reporters earlier this week that he might have pointed out a few things to his coaches about the Lions’ offensive players during planning meetings. He worked with all of the Lions’ playmakers and brought out the best of their talents to create one of the best offenses in the NFL over the past few seasons.

However, Johnson didn’t want to meddle too much with his coaches’ preparation. He said he trusted his coaching staff to find the strengths and weaknesses of the Lions and let them do their due diligence.

“It’s just that there’s a lot of weapons that they have, and so it’s hard on every single play to think we’re gonna be able to take everybody away,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “So, we just got to play good team defense. We’ve got to do a great job of tackling, and in particular, tackling in space.”

While the Bears can’t make grand conclusions about a team after one week, they plan on seeing what worked so well for the Packers. Green Bay’s defense flew around the field, never let its running attack get started and threw out disguises to throw off Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

“They still got all the same guys for the most part. But they’re a talented group, talented offense, experienced. I think that’s going on their third year of really all their guys. So, for me, it doesn’t change too much. I mean, just because you have one down game or first week doesn’t really mean too much.”

—  Jaylon Johnson, Bears cornerback

Those are things the Bears’ defense did during the first three quarters in their season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings and will need to do for a full game Sunday.

“For us, it’s a great film to watch to say, ‘Hey, we need to swarm like those guys and play the same defense. We played the first three quarters of the game, we just have to finish strong,” safety Kevin Byard said. “I think we’re going into this game very confident because obviously we’re familiar with this team. We had some close games last year with this team, we just have to go out there and finish the ball game.”

There’s a lot riding on Sunday’s game in a matchup in Week 2. Ben Johnson will make his first return to Detroit since the Bears hired him. Both teams will also try to avoid starting the season 0-2, a tough hole to be in if a team wants to qualify for the playoffs.

All the more reason to not take Sunday’s game lightly.

“I’m sure everybody feels that same urgency,” Jaylon Johnson said. “I mean, you never want to go 0-2, you want to try to win as many games as possible.”