Since the refs kept the bears’ playoff hopes and confidence alive by giving them the Eagle game last week, let’s look at what happened in today’s Lion game. This was a critical game, because if the bears lost, they would be two games behind the Lions, but in effect 3 games, since they would have lost the tiebreaker. A loss would have severely hurt the bears’ playoff hopes.
Detroit’s coach should have been fired at halftime. Here are the reasons:
The bears led 20-6 at halftime. Let’s look at how the bears got their 20 points. 10 points were due to receivers fumbling the ball. I’ve been saying for years (even before the James Jones game a number of years ago) that the bears strip the ball and receivers have to protect it. Obviously, the coach doesn’t get this and work on it all week. The other 10 points were a result of kicking to Hester. As I keep mentioning, I said prior to Hester’s first NFL game that any coach who kicks to him is an idiot.
The Lions still had a chance to win in the second half, so let’s see how the bears got the next 2 TDs to put the game away. Both TDs were on interception returns, and both followed first-down runs, as did the first fumble the Lions had. First-down runs were killing the Lions all day, as they do to any bear opponent, but the Lion coaching staff doesn’t get this.
It was 34-6, and the 34 points were due to receiver fumbles (preventable if you know those defensive plays are coming), kicking to Hester, and running on first down, all of which I’ve pointed out for years lead to losses.
As with almost all bear opponents, the Lions refused to attack downfield. They threw almost no deep passes during the first 3 quarters. The bears can’t cover deep, and doing this stretches the defense, not allowing the bears to have all 11 players “close” to the line of scrimmage. This contributed to the 2 interception returns in the third quarter, because there was no threat of the Lions throwing deep and the bear defenders could play short passes. This is another point I constantly make, and during games this year, the announcers also have questioned this. In the second and third quarters, the announcers ask why the opponent isn’t taking shots downfield and explain why the bear defense is vulnerable to those plays. Today, Brian Billick asked it in the second and third quarters, and said it would be vulnerable due to the single high safety and press coverage the bears were playing.
I understand Detroit’s QB had a broken finger and bad ankle and played with a glove on his throwing hand, and I understand the Lions dropped 4 TD passes (2 were on one drive), so they hurt themselves, but this would have been an entirely different game had the Lions had a smart gameplan. The Lions set the tone for the first 3 quarters by continuing to have idiotic strategy.