Lions First Drive
- Three-and-out. That's how we do it. Nice start for Peanut.
- But we're fortunate that Calvin Johnson couldn't make that third down play.
- When the Lions last played the Bears in November 2011, Devin Hester followed a 29-yard punt return with an 80-yard punt return touchdown. If the first punt is any indication, Nick Harris isn't going to give Hester a chance to beat his team. If that's the case, the Bears need to take advantage of favorable field position.
Bears First Drive
- I love that Cutler can audible, but clearly the Lions showed him a formation that confused Jay on the first two running plays.
- Excellent scramble by Jay on third-and-long to pick up the Bears initial first down.
- Another excellent job by Jay to evade Cliff Avril on the next play-action play. Jay's ability to get back to the line enabled the offense to have more flexibility on second down.
- Taking advantage of that flexibility, Mike Tice was able to call for a run on second-and-10. Lance Louis cleared out an enormous hole for Matt Forte, spinning his man out of the way, giving Forte the ability to hit the hole in a dead sprint. Kyle Vanden Bosch overpursued on the outside, giving Forte daylight. For as good a back as Matt Forte, that's just too easy.
- Then that touchdown. Just beautiful. An excellent play by Cutler and a good release by Marshall. The Bears ran only five plays on that 59-yard scoring drive. Five of those plays included running action to the left side of the formation with play action twice and actual runs three times, although Forte cut back two of the runs to the right side. Of those 59 yards, only seven came through the air on the touchdown to Marshall.
Lions Second Drive
- Reilly Reiff's cut block on Julius Peppers hurt my knees. Great block that sprang Mikel Leshoure.
- An excellent tackle by Tillman on the next play, setting up second-and-10 after a completion on a swing pass.
- After an unfortunate timeout call by the Bears offset a blown up run, Urlacher makes a perfect play on a blitz, swatting down a dump off.
- When the Bears defense forces third-and-long, it generally won't go well for the offense. While Urlacher and Briggs both showed a blitz in Stafford's face, Chris Conte's blitz destroyed the play, forcing Stafford into a risky soft toss in the flat to Joique Bell. Bell did a nice job securing the ball and getting a few yards. But that position won't work for Detroit.
Bears Second Drive
- Cutler's second down pass to Earl Bennett nearly hit the ground. The delayed timing killed the play.
- Then Cutler goes back to an open Bennett on third down, making an excellent read and delivering a beautiful ball. The protection was strong with only Cliff Avril coming around the end of the formation toward Cutler. Avril wasn't close to making a play on the quarterback.
- Even though Cutler wasn't close to connecting with Brandon Marshall on a downfield through on second down, the protection was again excellent. Lance Louis lost a step to Ndamukong Suh at the snap, but moved his feet well to force Suh off of his path to Cutler, giving Jay a pocket in which to step up.
- Cutler can't blame Tice for that third down timeout. Seems pretty clear that Jay didn't like something he saw. Hopefully burning the timeout results in a conversion.
- Unfortunately the Detroit defensive line collapsed the pocket quickly, forcing a quick dump off to Forte.
- Punter Adam Podlesh hit a clunker of a punt. He needed a better effort there punting from his own 46.
Lions Third Drive
- Corey Wootton made an important stop on Leshoure's first down run. The Detroit offensive line opened a huge hole for the back; had Wootton missed the tackle, Leshoure had space.
- ESPN had a nice angle of Major Wright blowing up the second down run, sealing the corner and forcing Leshoure back inside.
- Detroit inexplicably decided not to even chip Shea McClellin on third down. McClellin cannot overpower NFL offensive tackles and he likely can't even overpower most NFL tight ends yet. I wonder if there was miscommunication between the left tackle and tight end. McClellin is quick and he forced Stafford into the grasp of Julius Peppers.
Bears Third Drive
- Weak call on Gabe Carimi.
- Cutler's athleticism shines again. However, that was a bogus penalty call on Corey Williams. I must have missed the rule where a defensive player cannot hit a blocker in between that defensive player and the ball carrier. The hit didn't appear to be late. It did follow a decleater by Bennett.
- DeAndre Levy saved a big play on third down. Levy was too quick for Chilo Rachal on a screen and forced a field goal try.
- No kicker is automatic, not even Robbie Gould. His kick was sound, but Suh nearly swatted the ball.
Lions Fourth Drive
- Great protection by the Lions on first and second down. Major Wright absolutely has to make a better play on Stafford's second-down overthrow.
- Absolutely superb effort from Peanut Tillman manning up Megatron on a slow-developing third down play.
- Nice punt from Harris. But Hester really messed up on that punt, failing to catch a punt he should have rather easily handled. It cost him 10 yards.
Bears Fourth Drive
- Nice contain by Chris Houston.
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