Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson catches a touchdown pass against the Chicago Bears Kyle Fuller during first half action on Thursday November 27 2014 at Ford Field.(Photo Kirthmon F. Dozier Detroit Free Press)
They opened the game with two runs that went nowhere and an errant pass that Matthew Stafford sailed wide of an uncovered Calvin Johnson and when the Detroit Lions settled for a long field goal on their second possession Dominic Raiola found himself bracing for boo birds.
I was just like 'Man can we just score so we don't have to hear about not scoring touchdowns anymore ' Raiola said.
The Lions' touchdown less streak reached nine quarters after Stafford lost a fumble when he was sacked from behind by Jared Allen late in the first quarter but with their season on the brink something suddenly clicked with the Lions' struggling offense.
Stafford lasered a touchdown pass to Johnson through three defenders on an aggressive third down call early in the second quarter Joique Bell jumped over a pile of defenders for his first touchdown in more than a month two series later and the Lions one of the lowest scoring teams in the NFL rolled to their second straight Thanksgiving victory 34 17 over the Chicago Bears at Ford Field.
Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez give the Lions credit for their 34 17 win over the Chicago Bears but warn that they shouldn't be overly confident about their offensive production against a bad defense.
FREEP
Dave Birkett's report card Lions excel across board
I knew warm ups the way we were going about the game I knew we were going to have a good game on offense Stafford said. I could feel it just didn't happen the first couple minutes of the game. But I knew we were going to have a good day. I felt confident in our guys and we just decided made our minds up and obviously our defense played fantastic again shutting them down the rest of the game.
The Lions shredded a short handed Bears defense for a season high 474 yards and Stafford played maybe his best game of the year. He completed 34 of 45 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns while spreading the ball to nine different receivers.
Johnson caught touchdown passes of 25 and 6 yards Bell had two 1 yard scoring runs and the Lions' up tempo offense finally looked the well oiled machine most thought it would be coming into the year.
FREEP
Lions' Quin Bears tried to pad stats at the end
I think everybody just was tired of being where we were and knew we needed to do something guard Rob Sims said. I was telling the guys last night there may be some barriers in front of us we got to break through them it don't matter. No sense in a month from now 'Oh I wish I would have I wish I could have.' That time is now so I think that was the thing.
The Lions scored just 15 points on five Matt Prater field goals in back to back losses the last two weeks to the conference leading Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots but Stafford and Johnson were no match for a Bears team that played without two key starters in its front seven and used two or three rookies in the secondary most of the day.
Johnson who was limited to nine catches for 117 yards the last two weeks and fielded questions Tuesday about whether he had slipped from his perch as the game's top receiver had 11 catches for 146 yards Thursday.
He spent most of the game being single covered by rookie Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller and showed no ill effects from the ankle injury that cost him three games earlier this season.
You saw it Bears coach Marc Trestman said. We have coverage on him hip to hip. Throws were accurate he made the catches he had some run after the catch. He's as good as there is in this league.
The Bears (5 7) built an early 14 3 lead on a game plan similar to the one the Patriots ran to perfection last Sunday.
Jay Cutler marched Chicago downfield on its opening drive with a series of short passes and Alshon Jeffery turned a bubble screen into a 10 yard touchdown.
Jeffery's second touchdown of the game gave the Bears a 14 3 lead two plays after Allen's sack fumble but Stafford caught fire soon after.
He completed 22 of his final 25 passes in the first half and closed the second quarter with a perfect 2 minute drill.
Bell capped a 12 play 95 yard drive with his second touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter and Cutler threw two late interceptions to seal the Bears' fate.
The Lions who equaled their touchdown output from their last four games with four scores Thursday are a half game behind the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North heading into the weekend.
The Packers (8 3) host the Patriots on Sunday while the Lions play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings at home the next two weeks before closing the season at Chicago and Green Bay.
We needed this cornerback Rashean Mathis said. It was a division game Thanksgiving the turkey is going to taste a little better tonight.
Contact Dave Birkett dbirkett freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter davebirkett.
No comments:
Post a Comment