Bears double up Lions for 48-24 Victory
The Detroit Lions did their best to try to start a winning streak, going blow for blow with the Bears to head to the locker room knotted up at 21 to end the first half. But give Lovie Smith and his staff credit for shoring up the defense and holding the Lions to 3 second half points as the Johnny Knox returned the 2nd half opening kickoff for a touchdown the Bears never looked back as they topped the Lions 48-24 going away.
Jay Cutler had a ho-hum day, going 18-28 for 141 yards and 2 TD’s. He added a spectacular rushing TD as he hurled himself into the endzone and helicoptered in. Hate to say this, but it kind of reminded me of that John Elway Super Bowl scramble.
People can call him petulant or a cry-baby or whatever, but Cutler can flat out play football. The more I watch him play, the more impressed I am with him. Did you notice him blocking downfield late in the game when Garrett Wolfe cut back on a running play?
Things didn’t look good early as rookie Matthew Stafford, Calvin “Megatron” Johnson and the Lions seemed to be able to move the ball at will against the Bears defense. The problems with the secondary that were a pre-season concern seemed to be looming large as the Lions carved up the Bears on their first 2 drives.
Matt Forte and the rushing game showed signs of life, but the stats are a bit deceiving. Forte’s first rush went for 61 yards and he added a 37-yard run that went for a TD. Aside from those two big runs, he had 10 carries for 23 yards. He totaled 121 yards on the ground on 12 carries. Not nearly enough carries, but at this point, we’ll take it.
Hopefully, they can build on this during the BYE week. Garrett Wolfe tacked on his first career TD in garbage time. Adrian Peterson got hurt (knee), so it will be interesting to see how the running back depth chart shakes out during the bye.
The injury bug also bit the offense, as receivers Devin Hester (shoulder) and Johnny Knox (leg) did not finish the game. With a thin receiving corp, the Bears can ill-afford any serious injuries at that position. The tight ends stepped up, with Greg Olsen and Kellen Davis accounting for both receiving touchdowns.
The loss may be the least of the Lions concern, as franchise QB Matthew Stafford left the game with a knee injury. Hopefully, it’s not too serious. NFC North foe or not, you hate to see anyone go down with a serious knee injury.
Check out the full highlight reel from the NFL here or check out my Live blog complete with scoring summary and play by play in the comments here from ChicagoNow’s Bears Game Day.
It may not have been pretty, but a win is a win! Stay tuned for injury updates and plenty of BYE week coverage as the Bears head to their break at 3-1. I’m sure Lovie will have something to say about the first quarter of the season in his post-game comments.