The Lions’ win over the Bears could hurt them in the long run

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The Detroit Lions scored a great win over the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, but the result could backfire in the long run.

A win is always a great thing, and for the Detroit Lions, a Thanksgiving win is even better. But the Lions’ narrow win over the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving by a 23-20 score could have one possible bad side effect.

Not that fans should have hoped for a loss, but that crazy ending to the game, where poor time management caused the Bears to lose a chance to win, led to a quick reaction from the Bears that could hurt Detroit in the long run.

Detroit Lions coaches are “easily top candidates” for the Bears head coaching job

The Bears let head coach Matt Eberflus leave shortly after the loss to the Lions. That makes sense, because with that terrible end to the game, Bears management probably wanted to make a statement and turn the tide.

But now both Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are considered favorites to replace Eberflus. The thought of losing one of these guys to a rival in the NFC North is certainly concerning.

In a Nov. 29 feature for SideLion Report, NFL analyst and pundit Brad Berreman says both Johnson and Glenn are “easy frontrunners” to replace Eberflus.

“Johnson and Glenn will both have multiple options in the head coaching market if they want to fully entertain them,” Berreman explained. He added that it doesn’t matter “where the Bears are (or will be) in their personal pecking order” but that no list of candidates “is complete without them.”

Now, it’s worth noting that the Bears would likely let Eberflus go regardless of the Lions win, so perhaps the same outcome would end up for Johnson or Glenn. But if there was any thought left about whether the Bears should keep Eberflus, it evaporated on Thanksgiving.

Lions OC Ben Johnson will have ‘leverage in the market,’ says NFL expert

In a Nov. 29 article, Adam Jahns of The Athletic named both Johnson and Glenn in his list of 15 candidates for the Bears’ head coaching job.

In the article, Jahns questioned whether or not the Bears would approach Johnson.

“No candidate should have more influence on the market than Johnson, who is the architect and game manager of Detroit’s powerful offense,” Jahns said. “It should be clear to all interested teams that Johnson will also be picky.” He recalled that Johnson dropped out of the running for the head coaching positions of the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders last year.

However, Johnson might actually be interested in the Chicago gig. In October, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer told ESPN 1000 in Chicago that Johnson wanted the Bears’ head coaching job last year, but because the team wanted to keep Eberflus, it didn’t happen.

What exactly happened at the end of the Lions and Bears game was that the Bears lost the game in blatant fashion due to a late game time management issue. With 32 seconds left in regulation, the Bears offense seemed unaware that they were running out of time. Quarterback Caleb Williams urged players to speed up, but when they finally grabbed the ball there were only seconds left in the game and time was running out on a downfield pass. So the game ended and the Bears had cake in their faces.

Anne Erickson Anne Erickson is an award-winning reporter who covers the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. Erickson has years of experience in the NFL and other sports and her work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson