Bears vs Lions Tied at 7 at Halftime

Nov 10, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) reacts to his touchdown against the Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay (30) in the 1st quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears and Lions are knotted up at 7 apiece in a key NFC North matchup.  Jay Cutler appeared to answer critics with a solid first half, throwing for 148 yards and a TD and a pick.

The Bears’ first drive was a thing of beauty, marching 65 yards for a touchdown. So much for any rust on Jay Cutler.  He went 3/4 for 61 yards on the drive, capped off by three straight completions to doctor Marshall including a 32-yard TD pass.

Not to be outmatched, the Lions took their first drive 85 yards, capped off by a Matthew Stafford TD pass of his own.  It looked like it was going to be a scoring marathon, but things settled down defensively for both sides.

The head coaches figured into the non-scoring in the second quarter as both Marc Trestman and Jim Schwartz each decided to go for it on 4th and 1 instead of going for 4o-some yard field goal attempts.  Coaches will drop trou at midfield to see whose is bigger.

On what was supposed to be the Bears’ second scoring drive of the game, Alshon Jeffery was the featured receiver, coming up huge with three big catches, but in the red zone Jay Cutler’s pass down inside the 5 yard line was tipped by Ndamukong Suh and intercepted by linebacker DeAndre Levy.  Since the Lions mismanaged the clock late in the half, they didn’t have much of any time left to try to capitalize.

Other notes:

• Cutler appeared to have a big knot on his non-throwing hand. It didn’t seem to slow down Cutler, but keep an eye on this in the 2nd half.
• Peanut Tillman had to hit the sidelines on the Lions’ first scoring drive to attend to a wrist injury, but managed to bounce back.  He had a beautiful pass defensed against Calvin Johnson later in the half.
• The Bears are spreading the ball around well.  Forte has 12 rushes and 1 reception.  Alshon Jeffery has 4 catches for 54 yards, Brandon Marshall had three catches and 61 yards on that first drive and has been held in check since.  Martellus Bennett has three catches for 25 yards too.
• In start contrast to their Week 4 matchup, the Bears kept Reggie Bush in check in the first half. Bush has 21 yards from scrimmage in the half.
• Calvin Johnson has also been quiet, with only two catches for 32 yards.
• Brandon Pettigrew, on the other hand, had a monster first half with 4 catches for 64 yards.

Second Half To Do List

• Keep up the defense against Bush and Johnson.
• Get Forte going.
• Don’t do anything stupid.