Opportunity knocking for Bears offense vs. depleted Lions

Remember the Thomas Brown bump?

Once upon a time, the Bears’ offense seemed invigorated when Brown was promoted to offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired following a dreadful 142-yard offensive performance in a 19-3 loss to the Patriots on Nov. 10.

In NFC North games against the Packers, Vikings and Lions, the Bears averaged 363 yards per game and 5.5 yards per play. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, whose performance regressed in the final three games under Waldron — 50.5% completions, 156 passing yards per game and a 64.7 passer rating, was much improved. He completed 64.1% of his passes for 275.7 yards per game and a 99.2 passer rating in three games under Brown.

The offense’s reaction to Brown’s promotion likely encouraged the Bears to name Brown the interim head coach when Matt Eberflus was fired following the 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field.

The Bears as a team have not responded with Brown in charge — outscored 24-0 in the first half in a 38-13 loss to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium; and outscored 13-0 in the first half in a 30-12 loss to the Vikings on Monday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

But the offense has declined as well in two games with Brown calling plays from the sideline as head coach instead of in the coach’s booth as the offensive coordinator. The Bears are averaging 223 yards per game and 3.9 yards per play against the 49ers and Vikings. They were 1 for 12 on third-down conversions against the Vikings.

“I couldn’t tell you if it was a correlation,” Williams said when asked about the downturn coinciding with Brown’s added responsibilities and move to the sideline. “I think he’s calling the game the same way as he would then. I think he’s still getting the plays in fast. Still calling the same plays he would’ve called. I think we just have to execute.”

The Bears will get an opportunity to regain that early Brown groove against a depleted Lions defense Sunday at Soldier Field. The Lions have six Week 1 starters on injured reserve after defensive tackle Alim McNeil and cornerback Carlton Davis were injured in a 48-42 loss to the Bills on Sunday at Ford Field.

The Lions still are ranked seventh in the NFL in points allowed, but they were second when they faced the Bears on Thanksgiving. Since then, they’ve allowed 23 points in the second half against the Bears, 31 points against the Packers and 48 against the Bills. The Lions, in fact, have allowed 13 touchdowns in 25 drives in that span. They had allowed no touchdowns in 30 drives over their previous 12 quarters.

It remains to be seen if the Bears can take advantage of that dramatic downturn. But they know they’ll very likely have to. The Lions lead the NFL in scoring (32.8 points per game) and scored 34 points against the Packers and 42 against the Bills since playing the Bears at Ford Field.

“Obviously you’re going to have to score points, because they lead the league in points, so you can’t dig yourself a hole,” interim offensive coordinator Chris Beatty said. “They’ve got some personnel issues over there. So we’ve got to figure that out quickly … and get our guys in position to play fast at the start of the game.”

NOTE: Running back Roschon Johnson cleared concussion protocol and had full participation in practice Thursday. Left tackle Braxton Jones (concussion) also had full participation, but has not cleared protocol. Defensive end Darrell Taylor (shoulder) had full participation.

Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter (knee), left guard Teven Jenkins (calf) and guard/center Ryan Bates (concussion) did not practice.