The Chicago Bears snapped their four-game losing streak on Sunday defeating the Detroit Lions 20-13. Everything went the Bears way as Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was abruptly ruled out 24 hours before kickoff. Although everything leading up to the game was in the Bears’ favor, they did everything they could just to accept the favors and not fully capitalize on it.
On offense, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had possibly his best game of the season completing 16 of 23 passes for 173 yards and three touchdown passes. Trubisky made several top-tier throws in the game including his touchdown passes to tight end Ben Braunecker and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. Outside of the three consecutive scoring drives for touchdowns, the offense could do nothing else against one of the league’s worst defenses.
Head coach Matt Nagy got away from the running game again as running back David Montgomery finished the game with just 17 carries for 60 yards. Nagy also got away from running from the I-formation which had been working successfully for Montgomery. There were several times against the Lions that the Bears utilized tosses to their rookie running back instead of using the additional blocker in the backfield.
The offense as a whole struggled for the majority of the first half as the offense didn’t get past their own 30-yard line until very late in the second quarter. Gabriel dropped a key third-down pass that would have kept one drive alive and the Bears never took a deep shot downfield against a Lions pass defense that ranked 31st in the league. Chicago’s offensive line could not protect Trubisky as he was sacked five times on the day. Center Cody Whitehair had several low shot-gun snaps that hindered the timing of plays.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Chicago’s defense did just enough to preserve the victory as they limited the Lions to just one touchdown. Backup quarterback Jeff Driskel passed for over 269 yards including a 47-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kenny Golladay. The Bears defense register only two sacks and one interception against a Lions offense that has 11 giveaways and has allowed 18 sacks. Driskel led the lions on a last-second drive that came to an end on the deep in Bears territory after Detroit’s quarterback was flagged for an illegal pass.
Bears All-pro Khalil Mack failed to make an impact again as the secondary failed to force an interception. Outside of the play of linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, a lot of Chicago’s defensive starters had an average game at best. Nagy made a questionable decision that led to the Lions’ second field goal in the second quarter as he chose to decline an illegal formation penalty on the Lions instead of accepting and placing them out of field-goal range.
The win allows the Bears to get their playoff hopes back on track, but it wasn’t a convincing win. Chicago has yet to play a complete game with no issues on offense, defense, and special teams. Chicago will travel to Los Angeles next week to take on the Rams on Sunday Night Football, but if they can’t make the necessary improvements, there is a good chance they could end up back in the loss column.
