The Detroit Lions wished the Ford Field faithful a very happy new year on Sunday. The Lions blasted the visiting Chicago Bears, 41-10, in an important Week 17 win.
Detroit rallied to completely dominate all phases of the game after a mixed bag of a first quarter. The win keeps the Lions playoff hopes alive and closed out the home schedule with a 5-4 record, the first time since 2016 the team has won more games at home than it lost.
It was a great afternoon to be a Lions fan. Here are some of the takeaways from the impressive win in real-time.
Run game resurrection
It’s been a few weeks since the Lions ground attack looked truly impressive. Coming off a terrible Week 16 where QB Jared Goff was the team’s leading rusher, the Lions desperately needed to find the run game.
Oh yeah, they found it alright.
Detroit ran for a season-high 235 yards on 39 carries against the Bears. Jamaal Williams, who had not played well in a month, took out his frustrations with some fresh-looking legs. Williams ran for 144 yards. D’Andre Swift chipped in 78 more and had his best game since Week 1.
Special mention goes to the blocking. And not just the offensive line (which was very good) either. Wideout DJ Chark sprung Jameson Williams on his one carry for 40 yards with a devastating block. Chark had another great block on Swift’s TD run. Tight ends Brock Wright and James Mitchell each had outstanding blocks on long Jamaal Williams runs, too.
Defensive accountability adjustment
The first two Chicago drives were more than a little distressing for the Lions. A week after the Panthers ran for a team-record 320 yards, the Bears mauled the Detroit defense for 129 rushing yards in the first two drives. Over 100 of those came from Bears QB Justin Fields, including a 60-yard scamper where he ran past several poor angles and tackle attempts from Lions defenders.
The Lions didn’t panic. They didn’t radically alter the defensive game plan, either. They simply played better, more disciplined defense. Fields gained just 27 yards on five more carries. He was sacked five times thereafter as the Lions got back to their fundamentals on containment and tackling.
Give credit to Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for coming up with a plan of attack that worked extraordinarily well after a wobbly start. Chicago managed just five first downs on its final 10 drives. Sometimes staying the course and riding out a bad wave is the right thing to do, and it worked very well for the Lions against the Bears.
Bad day for the SOL crowd
You couldn’t avoid them after last week’s loss in Carolina. The “Same Old Lions” crowd was out in full-throated force. They dominated comment sections and clogged up call-in radio segments. You know you heard them.
Same old Lions. They blew it against Carolina and now they’re going to embarrass everyone by losing to Chicago too. Should have lost all those other games so the Lions would fire Dan Campbell, get a real coach and improve their draft position. Sell the team; we’ll never be good. Never. I don’t know why they even try.
It turned out to be a very bad week for the SOL crowd. The Lions did exactly what good, well-coached teams do: they put a bad game behind them and annihilated an inferior opponent. There was nothing remotely SOL about this performance, certainly not after the first quarter.
I’ve noticed most of the SOL purveyors have been unusually quiet since the game ended. Good. It’s perfectly acceptable to be skeptical of the Lions playoff chances. To be in denial that this team has radically improved and is in great position for the future, that’s simply not a tenable position. Leave that SOL attitude in 2022. This is not the same Lions team. They proved that emphatically on Sunday.
Quick hits
–James Houston tied Aidan Hutchinson for the NFL rookie sack lead with three in this one (Hutch had a half-sack of his own). The best part about Houston’s last sack was that it came on first down. He’s earning reps beyond just being a pass-rush specialist. That’s a huge development for both the short- and long-term team building on defense.
–Hutchinson’s run defense, even in the overall ugly first quarter, was exceptional. There was a play where Fields bootlegged to his right and Hutchinson was right there waiting for him. In the first meeting and even last week in Carolina, Hutchinson bit too far inside. He’s learning and he’s becoming a dominant all-around player before the end of his rookie season.
Aidan Hutchinson sets rare NFL rookie mark
–Another very strong performance from Jared Goff. He’s become very adept at being careful without sacrificing aggression, a difficult balance indeed. Goff was 21-for-29. Two of the misses were intentional throwaways. Other than one patch where he missed Jameson Williams and DJ Chark and took a sack, Goff was dialed in and in complete control.
–The Bears might have the worst overall offensive talent level of any team the Lions will play this decade. Their receivers were simply incapable of getting open. Their offensive line needs at least three new starters right away; I’d take Lions’ No. 4 OT Dan Skipper over either Bears starting tackle in this one. Outside of TE Cole Kmet, not one other Bears skill position player would ever see the field in Detroit this year. Not one.
–Speaking of Skipper, he had a fantastic down block as an extra tackle on one of Swift’s runs. The Bears defense had clearly not expected it from film study.
–The Lions were flagged for six penalties, costing 42 yards. Chicago was flagged for just three accepted fouls, but it cost them 49. The Goff-to-Chark deep shot on fourth down was a great choice, producing pass interference on both Bears DBs covering No. 4 in the end zone.
–For the sixth time in eight games, the Lions did not commit an offensive turnover. They’ve won all six.
