By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
The Detroit Lions are feeling the affects of the NFL season as injuries are piling up and the replacements do not equal the players lost. Aiden Hutchinson was lost several weeks ago and Alex Anzalone was lost earlier this month. Now Kalif Raymond is on the IR and Carlton Davis and Taylor Decker will not play on Thanksgiving. No team or player is completely healthy this late in the NFL season. The Lions regularly rest veteran players throughout the season during weekday practices and give rest days to most to keep the players fresh. The Chicago Bears, the Lions Turkey Day opponent can care less as they have problems of their own. A national audience wants to see these Detroit Lions, who are blowing out weak opponents and take control of games against good ones like the Vikings, Packers and even find a way against a good Houston Texans team.
1st Quarter
Detroit won the coin toss and elected to take the football first to try and break a long winless Thanksgiving Day losing streak of eight games. The game opens as Montgomery ran three straight times for 16 yards and a first down. Then, Goff goes to the air to Jameson Williams and a sideline grab by Amon-Ra St. Brown for 14. Detroit is on the Bears 35 when on third down, Williams catches a first down grab and puts Detroit at the 25. The Lions split out RT Penei Sewell and he feigns a pass. The Bears are ready and he is tackled in the backfield. Montgomery catches a short pass in the left flat for 3 yards. Detroit stalls from there. Chicago has only given up one opening drive TD in 22 games. Jake Bates 30 Yd Field Goal. 15 plays, 58 yards, 7:54. Lions 3- Chicago 0. Key Play. St. Brown 14 play grab for a first down.
After Detroit takes just over half of the first quarter, Chicago goes three and out. The 55-yard punt puts Detroit back at their own ten yard line.
Starting the drive, after a Detroit pass is ruled incomplete, Detroit goes to Montgomery around left end for eight yards. St. Brown catches the third and two pass and goes for 29 yards with most of it YAC. Jahmyr Gibbs runs behind Sewell for 18 yards and Detroit is on the Bears 32. Gibbs goes for 14 more with the offensive line springing him for a few more at the end of the play. On second down, Gibbs is sprung by LaPorta for 13 yards. End of Quarter. Detroit 3- Chicago 0. Key Stat: Lions 23 plays to Chicago’s 3. Time of Possession: Det. 13:22 to Chicago 1:38.
2nd Quarter
First play of the quarter, TD Detroit. Goff to LaPorta. Sam LaPorta 3 Yd pass from Jared Goff (Jake Bates Kick). 10 plays, 90 yards, 5:33 Detroit 10- Chicago 0.
Chicago’s next possession results in a punt after four plays. The Bears committed two flags on one play and the Lions took offensive pass interference. A 55 yard punt by Chicago and a short run back and Detroit is in business at the 26 and on the first play, Montgomery runs behind Frank Ragnow for 13 yards. On the next play, a play where Montgomery catches a pass out of the left flat and he uses outstanding balance for 14 yards. Williams is called for a crackback foul and Detroit is at 2nd and 23. Goff hits Tim Patrick for 30 yards and a Chicago ruffing call gives Detroit the ball at the Bears 15. Williams takes a swing pass for seven yards. Monty goes for four yards on first down. At the Bears 5, Detroit stalls out and Goff is tackled near the Detroit 20. J.Bates 36 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox. Detroit 13, Chi. 0. Key Play: The Montgomery swing pass.
Chicago takes the Detroit kickoff with no first downs in the game. They go three and out. A Bears punt by Taylor goes 58 yards to the DET 8. Maurice .Alexander returns it 26 yards to the Det 34 for a 26 yard punt return. On first down, Gibbs runs for 28 yards and the Lions are at the Bears 41. A St. Brown grab nets the Lions nine yards. Goff throws three consecutive passes away. Detroit attempts a field goal. Jake Bates 48 Yd Field Goal. 9 plays, 39 yards, 3:02. Detroit 16, Bears 0. Key Play: The Gibbs 28-yard run.
The Bears take the kickoff and once again go three and out. Caleb Williams goes for eight yards. At the two minute warning, the Bears decide to go for it and Williams pass goes incomplete to Swift. Detroit has the ball, first and ten on the Bears 38. The Lions drive goes nowhere but on 4th down, Sewell draws a defensive penalty and Detroit has a first down on the 23. Gibbs goes for a nice run of 13 yards and is popped by the defense and fumbles. Chicago recovers. The Bears first, first down of the game is a Williams pass to Cole Kmet for 14 yards. The Bears run out of time. Halftime: Detroit 16- Chicago 0.
Key Stat at the Half: Detroit scores on four of five first half drives and only leads 16-0.
Third Quarter
Chicago takes the kickoff and starts at their own 26. The Bears earn a first down on a Swift right side run. A Detroit sack of Williams pushes the Bears back to a 3rd and 15. A nifty pitch and catch from Williams to Keenan Allen for 18 moves the chains. A second and five scramble by Williams produces a first down for Chicago. Then, a deep middle pass to Keenan Allen produces a Bears TD. Williams pass deep middle to Allen for 31 yards, TOUCHDOWN.. Chicago 7- Detroit 16. Key play. Allen 18 yard catch on third and 15. 9 plays, 74 yards, 5:13.
Detroit takes over after their own 22 after the kickoff. A screen pass to Montgomery earns 19-yards. Gibbs catches a short pass and while Detroit is short of a first down, Gibbs is horse collared and Detroit receives a 15-yard gain. First and ten on the Bears 38 and Montgomery goes for eight. On the next play, Williams takes a reverse and hurdles a Bears defender and goes for 15 yards. Monty runs twice for 9 yards and Detroit goes to a two-tight end set. The Lions score the first down on the Bears four. Two plays later, a Goff pass to LaPorta with multiple looks produces a Lions TD. 11 plays, 78 yards, 7:04 Detroit 23- Chi. 7.
Chicago starts cooking with gas on their next drive. Rome Odunze takes in a catch for 19. A short swing pass to De’Andre Swift goes for 29. Two plays, 48 yards. A defensive holding call against Amik Robertson gives the Bears a new set of downs. The Bears run out of time in the quarter. Detroit 23- Bears 7. Key Stat: The Bears run their first play in the Detroit red zone with under a minute left in the third quarter.
4th Quarter
Three plays into the fourth its Williams to Allen for the TD pass. Williams pass short middle to Allen for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Two pt. conversion is NO GOOD. Det. 23- Chicago 13. 8 plays, 70 yards, 4:03
The Lions look like they ate plenty of turkey at the half and have now went to sleep.
After the kickoff, Detroit completes a pass to TE Brock Wright. A second TE catch to LaPorta is is ruled a catch but later reversed. Detroit punts. Fox punt gives the Bears field position at their own 15.
Detroit’s defense does come to life as the Lions’ DJ Reader sacks C. Williams for a seven yard loss. The Bears punt and M. Alexander goes for an 11-yard return. Detroit starts at midfield. On first down, Goff finds Patrick chipping through the middle and goes for 18. J. Williams goes for a short pass and is called for taunting. The down counts. Detroit has a 2nd and 22 with the 15-yard penalty. St. Brown catches a 17 yarder. The drive gives the Lions a field goal attempt from 45 and Bates misses his first field goal of the season. Lions 23- Bears 13. Key Play: The bonehead play by Williams.
The Bears take over possession just north of eight minutes and he scrambles for eight yards. A sideline pass from C. Williams to Kmet produces a Bears first down. Allen catches another pass just short of the first down marker creating a third and one. Williams connects with Allen for his third TD pass of the game. DJ Moore 31 Yd pass from Caleb Williams. 8 plays, 65 yards, 3:06 Lions 23- Bears 20.
The Lions take the kickoff and start at their own 35. The game still has over five minutes to go and feels like Detroit has run out of gas. Three Montgomery runs produce yet another Lions punt. A 61-yard Fox punt is downed at the Chicago one yard line. the Bears have 3:31 to go 99 yards. Allen catches another pass but is called for unsportsmanlike conduct. On third and seven, C. Williams connects with Moore for 25 yards and a Chicago first down. Two plays later, Moore catches a 2nd and 15 for 14 yards. Swift finds a left side hole and a Bears first down.
The two-minute warning seems to help Detroit. Za’Darius Smith for Detroit gets a sack. Then C. Williams scrambles for 13 yards. On third and four from the Detroit 44, the Lions break up a pass. Chicago goes for it on fourth and four, A completion from C. Williams to Moore is called back for offensive pass interference. Fourth and 14 for Chicago. Kindle Vildor is called for pass interference on Moore. Chicago ball on the Detroit 26. An offensive pass interference on Chicago on the next set of downs pushes Chicago back. Then a second sack by the Lions Smith.
The Final play of the game was a hum dinger. Chicago is in field goal range and Williams has nearly 20 seconds to run the play after the snap. He wastes time and throws the ball way too late. The game is over. The Bears had a timeout left and neither Williams or Bears Coach Matt Eberflus call a timeout. The clock runs out and the Lions escape.
Three Stars of the Game
1st Bears DJ Moore 8 Catches for 97 Yards
Second- Lions Penei Sewell- Blew open several holes as part of Detroit’s 194 yards on the ground
Third- The Bears Caleb Williams turning a poor first half into a gritty performance. He finished 20-39 for 256 yards and three TD’s. He is coming into his own. He ran four times for 39 yards and was sacked five times and it could have been north of ten. His coach made the mistake on the final play. He should have called time out.
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net
