Bear Down: Bears show a productive offense in win over Lions |
CHICAGO – It took four games for the Chicago Bears (2-2) to look like the team's fans have hoped for, but that finally came to fruition on Sunday. A big reason for that was at the expense of the Detroit Lions (0-4) as they continue to search for their first win of the season despite fighting for all 60 minutes.
Making his second start since being anointed the team's starting QB, rookie Justin Fields looked much better, completing 12 of 18 passes for 215 yards and one interception. About a third of those yards came on a long pass play to Darnell Mooney, but Fields did more than enough to prove he is ready to handle the starting job this season. "I can’t say enough with Justin (Fields) bouncing back from last week," Matt Nagy said to the media after the win. "He made great plays, great throws, great decision making." Things couldn't have gotten off to a better start for the Bears as they not only got the ball first, but went 75 yards on 12 plays needing around six minutes to get the job done. Fields and Mooney had a great connection all game long, and that showed up on their first drive as he hauled in several passes, including a 19-yard reception to move the ball to the 21. Outside of a few short passes before that deep ball, the Bears used a prolific ground attack from David Montgomery, and Damien Williams as Montgomery capped off their drive with a four-yard score and 7-0 Bears lead. Looking to answer on their first possession, Jared Goff and the Lions put an outstanding drive together, moving the ball 63 yards on 11 plays as they were knocking at the door. Goff was doing his thing through the air, as was Jamal Williams on the ground. With the ball inside the Bears 10, Goff fumbled the football where Bilal Nichols recovered to end that drive. Once again, the Bears offense had the right formula for success as Fields hooked up with Mooney for 64 yards, setting the offense up in prime position. Montgomery and the ground attack took care of things from there as he plunged in from nine yards out, extending the Bears lead to 14-0. Montgomery has been one of the bright spots for the Bears offense this season as he continues to produce at a high level. As if wasting an 11-play drive to open their game wasn't bad enough for the Lions, what not waste another double-digit drive that went 10 plays and 50 yards, putting the ball in Bears territory again. With Williams continuing to shoulder the load on the ground, De'Andre Swift started to get involved flashing his ability to both carry the rock on the ground and make plays in the passing game. The drive's biggest play was Goff hooking up with Quintez Cephus for 33 yards as the ball moved to the five. Things stalled out from there with the Lions turning it over on downs. Miscues were the theme of the first half for both sides as the Bears put together another 10-play drive only to have Robert Quinn record a strip-sack in which Khalil Mack recovered. With a chance to blow the game wide open, Fields was intercepted on the Bears next possession as Chicago headed into the locker room with a 14-0 lead. The second half couldn't have started any better for the Bears as their defense continued to do their thing, forcing a quick Lions punt before the offense again went to work. Not only did Chicago go 77 yards, but they needed less than three minutes to get it done as they had several big plays to move the chains. Not only did Fields find Allen Robinson for 28 yards, but he hooked up with Mooney for 32 more as he torched the Lions secondary all game. Chicago finished off that drive with their third touchdown of the game as Williams pounded it in from four yards out and a 21-0 lead. It took the Lions three second-half possessions to finally get on the board, but that is precisely what they did late in the third. Goff was starting to use T.J. Hockenson, who opened the drive with a big 22-yard completion before hooking up with Cephus again. That is when the duo of Williams and Swift began making plays on the ground before Goff capped off that drive by finding Kalif Raymond for a four-yard score to make things 21-7. Chicago wasn't ready to let up quite yet as Fields and the offense continued to make plays looking like a completely different unit on that side of the ball. After hooking up with Cole Kmet for a short pass, Montgomery broke one outside for 24 yards before going up top to Robinson for 27 more. A few more running plays later, and the Lions forced a fourth down where Cairo Santos knocked home a 33-yard field goal to make things 24-7. Following that score, the Lions put together another long scoring drive as they continued to show their fight so far this season. In a matter of just over three minutes, Goff and the Lions offense pushed the ball down the field as they looked to keep things within a two-score game. Several good runs by Swift opened the passing game where Goff took advantage to find Amon -Ra St. Brown and KhaDarel Hodge. After picking up a score earlier in the second, Goff hooked up with Raymond for a second time pulling the Lions within 24-14. That was about the only good that came from the Bears the rest of the way, as they accumulated just 41 yards of offense the rest of the way. To make matters worse, Montgomery left in the fourth quarter with a knee injury after leading the way with 106 yards and a pair of scores. YOU ARE AN AWESOME GOD !!! Hopefully, things are not too serious for him as the Bears responded from a tough loss to Cleveland by defeating Detroit 24-14 to remain unbeaten at home and improve to 2-2 on the season. Final: #Bears 24, #Lions 14#BearDown pic.twitter.com/wQwSHQFbfs Along with Montgomery and his huge game, Mooney continues to prove he is a legitimate No. 2 wideout hauling in five passes for 125 yards, including several deep balls. Robinson added 63 yards while the TE role of Jimmy Graham and Kmet needs more work.
