Yet another week with a closely contested loss for the Chicago Bears. Playing the division rival Detroit Lions this week, the Bears came to life early in the second half with some explosive plays. However, following recent trends, the Bears fell short late in the game.
While QB Justin Fields performed as great as ever, he threw a costly pick-6 that helped the Lions get back into the game. Despite this big mistake, Fields accounted for four total touchdowns and accrued 147 yards on the ground, while throwing for 167. TE Cole Kmet continued his breakout campaign with a season-high 74 yards while adding two touchdowns on top, giving him five touchdowns in the last three games.
The defense held the Lions to under 100 yards rushing, putting up a solid front today. However, they had much trouble stopping WR Amon-Ra St. Brown through the air, as he accumulated 119 yards just by himself. LB Jack Sanborn was all over this game, getting two sacks and leading the team with 12 tackles. LB Nicholas Morrow also had himself a game, accumulating three tackles for loss.
Overall Reaction: Bears fall to Lions 30-31
Again. Justin. Fields. While the Bears lose again, Fields shined bright again. Besides his big interception, he displayed his brilliance at avoiding pressure and his accuracy throwing the ball. While Cole Kmet also continued his outstanding run, RB Khalil Herbert has established himself as the leading back. He outcarried fellow RB David Montgomery by only one carry, but was much more efficient with 20 more yards. Both are expected to be part of the offense moving forward; a 1-2 punch combo.
The defense stopped the run very efficiently today, but lacked through the air. As mentioned above, LBs Jack Sanborn and Nicholas Morrow had nice games, but missed the experience of Roquan Smith. In a few coverage plays, the young defense let up big passing plays instead of allowing underneath routes like Smith would have. They had themselves a solid game however, holding the Lions to only three scores (as one of the scores was caused by Fields).
While this loss doesn’t fall on K Cairo Santos, he missed an extra point that allowed the Lions to take the lead at the end of the game. However, Santos remains perfect with field goals and has been fairly accurate with extra points, so this one’s not on him.
