The Detroit Lions escalated from little brother, to puffy-chested little brother, to chirpy, to dirty before they fell and hit every step in their dissension down Da Bears' "humblin' [butt] whoopin" staircase.
Julius Peppers unhinged his jaw and swallowed Megatron whole. Peppers spent the rest of the afternoon making plays. This was a--we'll call it a "clean" clothes-line--across the shoulder pads of Calvin Johnson, who then proceeded to cough up the football at the 12:18 mark of the first quarter, and that set the tone for the rest of the day. Urlacher tried the ol' scoop-and-score, but he was caught by Pettigrew after 17 yards. Stiff jab to the chin.
Matt Forte punched the ball into the end zone on two runs from the 12. The first was from a spread shotgun look and he continued to show his excellent field vision on the touchdown run from the I-formation. Da Bears were in a "Tank" personnel (1 WR, 2 TE, 2RB) look on a Lead Open run. Lead-blocker Clutts broke to the right out of his stance and Forte immediate recognized the read that the defense got from Clutts and he cut back against the over-pursuit of the Lions' defense. Touchdown, punch to the gut.
Nate Burleson beat Tim Jennings, twice. But "Tiny" Tim didn't give up. Jennings caught Burleson from behind, punched the ball out of his arm, and recovered his own forced fumble. Another quick jab.
The Lions had two turnovers and two 15-yard penalties in the first 10 minutes of the game. It was like they were looking in the mirror and punching THEMSELVES.
The Detroit defense did play well--when they weren't playing dirty--ya know, ripping off helmets, leg-whipping and pile driving. Bears QB Jay Cutler threw for a mere 123 yards and was 9-20 on pass attempts. The offense was held to only 3-13 on third conversions and 4.9 yards per catch. And besides the touchdown and one 40 yard scamper, they held Forte in check with 64 yards on 18 attempts. That's a 3.6 yard average for those of you with your calculator out.
But that was the only phase working for the Lions. For some reason, Detroit's recently signed, off the couch--and more recently, released--punter Malone, kept kicking the ball to the greatest punt returner off all time in Devin Hester. Hester returned his first punt for 29 yards before he was knocked out of bounds by Malone. That wasn't the case on the next Hester return as he took it to the House on an 82 yard return. 1-2 combo lands cleanly.
Hester is the greatest for a few reasons. He is able to "set up" the punting team's coverage because he isn't afraid to run laterally and force the coverage to adjust their lanes. Hester runs East and West, which forces the coverage to break their discipline. This is when #23 strikes. Hester has elite field vision, as well. It's just harder to tell because Hester will make his cut before a seem has been created, but he knows it'll be there. And it always is. He's a step ahead of everybody at all times and that's all he need to plant that foot and get up field for the score.
FYI: In Hester's five NFL seasons, he has 2516 receiving yards, 2502 punt return yards and 3156 kickoff return yards.
Mike Martz gaff of the week: third down and a foot, the offense lines up in the power-I formation. Cutler fakes the handoff to Clutts and tosses it left to Forte, who is dropped for a loss and they're forced to punt. Why must I ask where is Marion Barber every frickin' week?
The only thing Da Bears couldn't stop was themselves. Coming into the game, the Lions only turned the ball over five times. Da Bears matched that and then some with six take-aways on Sunday. Body shot, body shot, upper-cut, down for the count.
The defense stuck with what worked last week. Cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings were asked to play off-man coverage in Cover 1 and Cover 3 schemes, especially earlier in the game. The Lions got away with a few one-step slant routes, so coach Mari-Lovie went to more "press" coverage. This allowed the CBs to re-route the Lions' wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and not allow them to get the inside position for the quick slants with room to run after the catch.
Don't underestimate the phenomenal job Tillman did in shutting down Megatron, the best receiver in the NFL. Megatron was targeted 17 times by QB Matthew "Insert relevant excuse or cry-baby nick name here" Stafford through the first three quarters and he only had six receptions.
Again, a lot of credit goes to the front four. They were getting to Stafford early and often. They made him incredibly uncomfortable in the pocket, which allowed the CBs to only stay on their men as long as they needed to. The front four influencedStafford's accuracy and timing and the secondary reaped the benefits all afternoon.
I can't say enough about Peppers. He was disruptive off the edge and even more so when he lined up at the 3-technique. He consistently got pressure from the interior of the line and collapsed the pocket. He had a key sack and dropped Stafford for an 11 yard loss after he dominated the guard, fought through existing traffic in the backfield and was still able to bring down Stafford to force a field goal.
It was a great defensive effort all around. In the three games Chris Conte and Major Wright started as the safety tandem, da Bears' defense has allowed only one touchdown pass. Yeah, I can't believe it either.
Charles Tillman said that "hitting is the equalizer." This rang true on Sunday. The defense was laying the wood all afternoon. The hit Briggs put on Megatron in the second half will forever be in my mind's highlight reel. And to make it clear, even though he was called for an illegal hit, it was a legit clock-cleaner.
Da Bears played with a sense of purpose and it showed. Big credit to all the players, especially on defense and special teams, which trickles down to coach Lovie and his staff.
Barring any major injuries to key players, Da Bears are primed for a deep playoff run. In Lovie We Trust-ie.
Tune in to Chicago Sports Fix with Josh Catlow and me, Rob Zielinski, this and every Monday from 6 to 8pm only onChicagoland Sports Radio.
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