The Detroit Lions made some awful music in Week 14. Given a chance to dance to a potential division title as road favorites in Chicago, the Lions instead played out of tune and got run off the stage.
Cue the Limp Bizkit.
“It’s just one of those days”…
It certainly was one of those days when the Detroit Lions made their fans want to break stuff. A sloppy, discordant Lions team froze on the chilly stage in Soldier Field, falling 28-13 to the Chicago Bears in a game that strikes a troubling tune for Dan Campbell’s team.
Rollin’ the takeaways…
The third quarter offense lost the game
After a rocky start, the Lions bounced back nicely. Detroit even took the lead just before halftime, seizing momentum and setting the stage for a big third-quarter surge.
Then came the third quarter and one of the worst displays of offensive football Lions fans have seen in years. Everything was terrible, from the blocking to the ponderous Ben Johnson play calls, from the passing by Jared Goff to the attention to detail of the weapons.
The Lions four possessions in the third quarter:
3 plays, 4 yards, punt
3 plays, 7 yards, punt
3 plays, -1 yard, punt
2 plays, fumbled snap, turnover
The defense, which had adjusted nicely after a terrible opening drive, was put in a horrible position by the offense and couldn’t hold up. They shouldn’t be expected to, either.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson continues to have major issues in getting his unit going after halftime. In many weeks, they wake up in time to save the day. In Chicago, they stayed asleep at the wheel and got run over.
Bad execution on defense
Let’s get this out of the way immediately: Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn isn’t doing a good job. But blaming him for the defensive issues in this one is akin to blaming the drummer for the lead singer forgetting the lyrics to their hit song.
This play from the second Bears drive is an excellent example:
Justin Fields is electric ⚡️
pic.twitter.com/qdlXUioXAB— PFF (@PFF) December 10, 2023
Not once, not twice, but three times the Lions players missed tackling opportunities on Justin Fields. Rushing six, it’s imperative for the front to not blow containment; the second level is empty by design to get pressure. Just as they had done on the opening drive, they left massive running lanes for Fields, the NFL’s top running quarterback.
The pressure did get considerably more effective as the game progressed, but blown coverages and missed tackles continued to be a problem for Glenn’s defense. The fourth-down touchdown the Lions surrendered was a comedy of execution errors:
- DE Aidan Hutchinson jumped offside
- CB Jerry Jacobs got roasted by Bears WR D.J. Moore off a poor jam
- Jacobs’ help, seldom-used safety Ifeatu Melifownu, stood perfectly still in the middle of the field until after the ball was thrown over the top, where Melifonwu was supposed to at least be trying to be.
There isn’t a coordinator in football that can successfully call a defense when the players are undisciplined and sloppy in execution. Glenn absolutely isn’t that kind of coordinator.
3 stars of the game
Not easy to find three Lions who had good games, but here goes…
3rd star: DL John Cominsky – 7 tackles, one sack, two QB hits and a TFL
2nd star: P Jack Fox – 51.8 yards per punt on four punts, also made a tackle to save a touchdown and did a great job as a holder on a bad snap
1st star: LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin – just one tackle, but it was a big sack of Fields. Also broke up a pass and forced another incompletion with good coverage.
Lack of complementary football
Dan Campbell talks about it all the time — the need for the offense, defense and special teams to all play well in concert with one another. It didn’t happen in Chicago.
The defense came out poorly, giving up 10 points on two long drives to start the game. But after that, they gave up just 16 points and 11 first downs on nine Chicago possessions. That’s not great, but Detroit can win with that kind of defensive effort.
But other than the second quarter, the Lions offense was completely out of tune. The sweet music of offense and defense playing in harmony only lasted one quarter. Jared Goff completed just eight of his 19 pass attempts in the second half, often while under heavy pressure. After a first half with over 100 rushing yards, Detroit ran for just 34 in the second half.
Instead of feeding off a solid defensive effort, the offense made it even tougher on them. A missed extra point with an unsavory snap and some missed blocks and containment lanes on special teams didn’t help, either.
Quick hits
–Amon-Ra St. Brown caught three passes for 29 yards. None came after halftime. He dropped two passes and perhaps a third. It didn’t appear that the Bears paid any extra attention to Detroit’s top wideout, either. Two straight subpar games from Detroit’s star on offense.
–Jameson Williams had one touch, an early carry that gained a first down. Goff threw to him once. That’s not using your weapons.
–Left tackle Taylor Decker had a brutal game in pass protection. Can’t have that when the interior line is struggling to stay afloat. Getting bull-rushed back into Goff by Yannick Ngakoue is not a good look.
–Ifeatu Melifonwu got the start along with Kerby Joseph at safety. Melifonwu made one fantastic tackle on a fourth-down (bad, cutesy call by Chicago’s offense too) but otherwise looked like a liability in both coverage and Fields containment. Zero instincts in space. Film study is needed to confirm, but the first impression was rough.
–The Lions CBs don’t travel with receivers; very few teams do that. However, the Bears isolated their top weapon (D.J. Moore) on Detroit’s weakest cover CB (Jerry Jacobs) a little too easily. Maybe try and mix things up just a little?
–Little-used TE James Mitchell had a fantastic seal block on the Jahmyr Gibbs TD run. Penei Sewell was also outstanding on the move on that play.
–The official NFL gamebook credited the defense with nine QB hits. That ties for their most in a game all season with the win over the Raiders.
–At one point, Goff and Fields were both 19-of-32 passing. Goff had 134 yards, one TD and one INT. Fields produced 223 yards and 2 TDs on the same stat line throwing. Fields also added 46 yards rushing at that time, to Goff’s zero.
–Didn’t see any noteworthy injuries during the game, which is a positive.
–The 9-4 record matches the Lions’ best start since 2014. Sure doesn’t feel so warm and fuzzy right now, however…
