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    Bears Taking the Approach of Let George Do It

    Bears and Lions Live In-Game Blog

    A look in at the Bears and Lions in their Thanksgiving Day game with BearDigest's Gene Chamberlain offering updates and analysis.

    Fourth Quarter

    • Nagy was fearful Lions would allow them to score a touchdown to get the ball back. Bears call timeout with a second remaining. Kind of letting things go close to zero but they'll try a chip shot Cairo Santos field goal 23 yards. Bears win 16-14
    • The Bears are trying to screw this up. They can score a touchdown and make it all but impossible on the Lions. Instead, they down the ball twice and are setting up a field goal. It's actually going to work but  you're leaving too much to possible disaster this way. If hold or snap are bad or it gets blocked. Should have scored a TD.
    • The Bears and Lions deserve each other. The Bears call timeout and save the Lions a too-man-men-on-the-field penalty. Incredible. It was obvious the Lions had two players on the field trying to get off the field.
    • Slant to Byrd for a first down at the 3. The Bears can run out the clock and kick a field goal or whatever.
    • Lions are penalized 5 yards for calling back-to-back timeouts and Bears face third-and-4 with Lions down to one timeout.
    • Lions wasted a timeout as they may have had too many men on the field. Too bad because the pass play would have gone for a first down or a touchdown. The dump off to Montgomery had no one in coverage in the flat.
    • Montgomery smashed backwards on second-and-10 for no gain. This makes no sense. The Lions will have one timeout if the Bears are content on settling for a field goal. They gave Montgomery a few inches forward motion. Third-and-9
    • Bears have second-and-10. They better be thinking end zone here because their defensive gives up passing yardage in huge chunks and a field goal would be easy for the Lions indoors with most of their timeouts left.
    • Campbell lets the clock run down to 2:00. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
    • Montgomery gets it anyway with a 2-yard run. First down at the 16 with 2:30 left.
    • Dalton scrambles for the first down but the officials mark the ball back for a 9-yard gain. He dove forward, didn't give himself up, and they took 2 yards from him.
    • After Montgomery was stopped on first down for a yard loss, Dalton finds Kmet button-hooking over the middle for a first down at the 27.
    • Finally go to left side on a run and Jason Peters delivers a block to spring Montgomery for a 13-yard run and a first down.
    • Grant and Dalton aren't timed up well and the play-action pass goes out too soon for Grant. Looked like Grant just didn't run the route full.
    • Dalton scrambles away from the sack and throws to Byrd downfield for a first down, but the Lions defense held anyway. At the Bears 49.
    • Dalton can't get it to Grant over the middle on second down. Third-and-5.
    • Herbert with one of his best runs in weeks, 5 yards. But if he looked left he had 10 yards of open space.
    • Toss over the middle to Kmet for 7 and a first down.
    • Can't get the running game going so they go to the wildcat. Montgomery gets 4. comes out after his shirt got ripped again.
    • It's up to Isaiah Coulter, Mooney and Byrd as Marquise Goodwin is out with a foot injury.
    • Excellent Lions punt coverage and Bears are at their 21.
    • And there it is, a WR screen to St. Brown and the Lions punt. They have six offensive holding penalties with 8:44 left and the Bears are still losing.
    • Third-and-32 after incompletion to Reynolds. Look for a screen.
    • Another holding on the Lions and it will be second-and-32. This one on Sewell.
    • Goldman stuffs a run for a short gain but Lions held again. Kraemer with his second hold. He's an undrafted rookie only in due to injury.
    • False start leaves Lions with second-and-12.
    • This is about the time of the game when the defense falls apart for the Bears. They're doing it.
    • Absence of Roquan and they run right up the middle after blocking Ogletree for a 22-yard gain.
    • First-down pass Crawford with a pathetic attempt to tackle Josh Reynolds and Lions at their 25 now.
    • Sack of Dalton on second down and then he has to scramble for a few yards and they punt. Ball dies at the 9.
    • Tough sledding up the middle for Montgomery still as he gets 3 on first down.
    • Heads-up pitch forward by Dalton to Montgomery nets the first down at midfield.
    • Isaiah Coulter targeted on second-and-7 and he slips and it goes incomplete. Third-and-7.

    Third Quarter

    • Quarter ends after a 3-yard Dalton scramble. He had Montgomery wide open to his left, didn't see him and then when he started to scramble forward finally saw him but it was too late as the rush closed in. 
    • Finally they come back to the play-action pass and it works for a 16-yard gain to Mooney. The Lions have sold out to stop the run so Bears took advantage.
    • Offensive line troubles continue as Montgomery smeared for no gain by Alim McNeil
    • Bears put Herbert back on kick rather than Grant and he lets the kick hit the ground, and as a result they have less time for the return. Starting at the 19.
    • Lions called for too many men on the field on the extra point and need to try it from 38 yards away. It's good and Detroit 14, Bears 13
    • Hockenson for the TD against zone without anyone near him with 1:46 left in the quarter.
    • Lions dump it down to St. Brown and DHC doesn't react quickly enough to prevent the first down. Lions at the Bears 17.
    • Bears pass rush less effective now and Goff gets it to Hockenson for 8 yards over the middle to Bears 39. A first-down run to the 28-yard line as Bilal Nichols and Caleb Johnson are blown off the ball. Johnson is in for Jones, after the dumb penalty.
    • The defense lets the cat out of the bag. They give up a 17-yard catch-and-run to Kalif Raymond and then an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Jones. Puts the Lions in Bears territory. He threw Raymond to the ground.
    • As you recall, the Bears struggled running the ball when they didn't have a mobile quarterback last year. When they had Mitchell Trubisky at QB instead of Nick Foles, the running game took off. It's the same thing today as the defense doesn't have to worry about that added threat of a QB run on the RPO and they tee off.
    • The offensive line has had several strong run-blocking games this year in getting the Bears to sixth in the league in rushing. This isn't one of them.
    • Blocking completely fails on run. Anzalone tackles Montgomery for no gain. Bears punting again. 
    • Montgomery slams it in off right tackle and guard for 6 and it's third-and-2.
    • Bears at 20 after punt. A throw outside to Byrd goes nowhere, just a yard. Very nearly wound up losing a bunch of yardage.
    • Artie Burns, who gave up the TD pass earlier, with tight coverage over the middle for a PBU and Lions go three-and-out. If Burns could play that way on throws over the middle all the time, they should us him as the slot cornerback now that they don't have Duke Shelley (hamstring). 
    • A predictable blitz yet Bears don't pick it up and he throws incomplete. A 53-yard field goal try by Santos is way short. Wow. They once again squander a scoring opp and then give up good field position all in one.
    • Now they are only on the edge of field goal range.
    • Dalton scrambles for a first down but it was obvious Cody Whitehair held Brockers.
    • Montgomery gets 4 on first down but they run blitz Herbert on second down and stop it for no gain. Third-and-6.
    • Officials prevent Bears from running a no-huddle play for no apparent reason. Some sort of substitution problem so they're helping the Lions. Mooney then takes in the 12-yard gain on a post.
    • Dalton makes like Fields and scrambles before throwing downfield to Byrd for 19 and Bears at the Lions 40 in no-huddle.
    • Bears about to squander good field position after Mooney can't hang onto second-down pass.
    • Just when they get Montgomery going, they call J.P. Holtz for a hold on a first-down run. Holtz had his hands all the way around Anzalone.
    • Bears at their 43. Montgomery nearly has his undershirt ripped off on a run off right guard for 4.
    • Lions at their 21. Williams with 4 over Nichols' side of the line and then 3 in the same place. Bears using Blackson in Hicks' place today rather than shift Nichols to the other side. Short pass to Kalif Raymond on third-and-3 nets nothing as Alec Ogletree with the nice open-field tackle. Grant with a flying catch of the punt and a 13-yard return to set Dalton up in excellent field position.

    Half

    • Losing Swift is a killer for the Lions but losing Smith is for the Bears. Swift has been ruled out. So has Smith.
    • Bears have 14 yards rushing against the 31st-ranked run defense.
    • Dalton 16 of 26 for 218 yards with a TD and INT. Goff 12 of 13 for 97 yards and a TD for a 123.4 rating.

    Second Quarter

    • After a completion to Kmet improves field goal position, they waste 10 seconds as they get lined up and don't down the ball. Incomplete to Mooney with 10 seconds remaining. Then Dalton throws it away with four seconds left. Botched a chance at a touchdown. Santos drills a 43-yard field goal. Bears 13, Lions 7.
    • Disastrous play. Bad snap from center, Dalton picked it up and should have thrown it away but he got it to Kmet, who couldn't get out of bounds after a 2-yard gain. So they have to waste a timeout. Just a poor play all around.
    • Throws to Kmet and Montgomery put the Bears into field goal range and they need to think about touchdowns because they have two timeouts and 43 seconds at the 37.
    • Jaylon Johnson was grabbed from behind on a deep ball and interferred with so he couldn't get to the interception but it fell incomplete and was overthrown so bad he probably wouldn't have gotten it. Bears get it after a punt at their own 46. 1:09 left.
    • Another Lions hold on short pass as Blackson barrels in on pass rush but Bears decline it.
    • Detroit with 1:35 left but Bears take a timeout hoping to get the ball back with good field position.
    • Holding Angelo Blackson on the play and Lions at their own 10.
    • Byrd isn't open and Dalton throws to him in the end zone for an interception. Squandered opportunties have been the story of the Bears offense no matter who the quarterback has been. Squandered opportunities on offense and blown leads on defense.
    • Kmet interferred with but no call. Dalton should have thrown the ball earlier when Kmet was open, though. Incomplete and the Bears face third-and-10 at the 23.
    • Kmet flaring out of bounds for 16 yards wide open against the zone. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
    • Bears get the ball at the Lions 39 with 2:04 left in the half. Excellent play by Gipson not thinking the play was over as Quinn was taking Goff down.
    • Interesting but if this is a fumble and Bears recovery, Gipson got his way into half the sack because he knocked the ball out. Otherwise, the sack would have gone to Quinn.
    • Goff clearly fumbled on the way down and it was recovered by Trevis Gipson. Replay looking at it.
    • Quinn with his 11th sack of the season and Sewell holds as well. Both tackles held for the Lions on the play. It's third-and-14.
    • Swift has a shoulder injury. But Roquan Smith out with a hamstring and it shows as Lions run right up the middle for a first down. The Bears middle is now wide open with Christian Jones and Alec Ogletree at linebacker.
    • Goff has started 10 of 10 so the Bears secondary needs to get its act together.
    • The same play as the 52-yarder worked for a 64-yarder once this season. The Lions actually avoided getting totally fooled on it and two defenders in the area but they couldn't keep up with Mooney and he was wide open. It's good to see them let Dalton throw it downfield instead of 2-yard passes all day.
    • Dalton finds Mooney on that same route across field that Fields loves throwing it to him on and Bears gain 52. Next play over the middle to Graham for the TD. Mr. Red Zone is back. A 17-yarder. Bears 10, Lions 7
    • Bears at their 31.
    • Jakeem Grant's brilliant cut outside and spinning punt return puts the Bears in good field position after a 22-yard return. He's looking healthier than he has in weeks and his speed is showing now.
    • Campbell hands off. Makes no sense. He needs to watch more Bears football. On those plays the Bears will play back, surrender 20 yards just to tackle a guy and give them a field goal try instead of keeping them out of field goal range. He should have thrown a screen or underneath route. Sean Desai got that bad habit from Vic Fangio, who was the king of that.
    • Screen pass sniffed out by Quinn and Bilal Nichols. They lose yardage on the play and face third-and-32. This is where Bears usually sit back in zone and give up field goal yardage. 
    • Underneath route gets them 5 yards back. They face second-and-26.
    • Lions false start after the holding penalty. So they have piled up 20 yards in penalties after getting in field goal range.
    • Lions waste no time going to Hockenson for the first down and get into Bears end, then work the short game. A third-and-2 at the Bears 36 opens wide up for Williams on a run to the Bears 29.

    First Quarter

    • A false start and then Lions get called for holding when Roquan Smith violently hits Swift and rides him out of bounds. A beautiful tackle but Swift can't get up.
    • No Eddie Goldman on this drive and Lions went right up between where both absent Goldman and absent Akiem Hicks would be.
    • Jesse James makes a nice play to break up an interception after Dalton panicked when he had plenty of time. Bears settle for a 28-yard Cairo Santos field goal. Lions 7, Bears 3
    • The Lions are last in the red zone but the Bears are not only rarely in the red zone and not very good when they are there. A short Montgomery run of 2 and then incompletion in the end zone to Graham leaves third-and-8 at the 10.
    • Fantastic low catch by Jimmy Graham at the Lions 12 on underthrow by Dalton. 
    • Another wide receiver screen works for a first down and finally the Red Rifle looks downfield for a 33-yard completion to Darnell Mooney. Quarter ends with a short toss to Cole Kmet and Bears in field goal range. Lions 7, Bears 0
    • Somehow the Bears must start inside their 20 after the penalty negated the touched punt up near the 40. But the Bears get only 8 yards on two plays and face third-and-2. The Bears offensive line is facing one of the league's worst defensive lines and isn't moving anything. 
    • Punt nails a Lions coverage man and Bears get good field position, however a holding penalty on the return. Officials say it was Cheese Jones but they're showing a replay of Xavier Crawford holding. Apparently they could have had their choice. 
    • Penei Sewell jumps the snap and Lions go back to their 2. Jamaal Williams stuffed at the line on first down. Bears took some gambles off the left side of the line on second down and nearly got Williams for a safety. Cassius Marsh and Tashaun Gipson a little too wide for the safety. Then a very conservative handoff up the middle on third-and-12 from the 2. 
    • Lions botch the punt return and get pinned back on their own 4.  It would be a good time to jump a route and go for the interception.
    • Dumps it down to Cole Kmet who built up a nice head of steam but facing a zone he had no chance to get the first down. Bears punt from midfield.
    • Dalton gets flushed out and throws it away against one of the worst pass rushing teams in the league. Then Bears fail to gain on a second-down run. Third-and-10.
    • Wide receiver screen works for a first down at the 41 to Jakeem Grant. Another receiver screen without Justin Fields playing. 
    • A nice skinny  post for a first down to Mooney but for some reason they Montgomery out of the game and go to Khalil Herbert. He has struggled since returning to a backup role after Montgomery's injury and gets nothing.
    • Bears kick return team now 0-for-2 in opening holes on returns. Bears start back at their own 17 and then get nothing on an end around.
    • Thank Ryan Pace for that one. He left this secondary without talent in the offseason. Tried plugging holes with practice squad types.
    • For some reason, Artie Burns is on the field and gets beat for a touchdown by Josh Reynolds, their recenlty signed  39 yards. If Burns is their answer to how bad Kindle Vildor was playing, they need to go back and look for another answer. Lions 7, Bears 0
    • Shades of the Pittsburgh game. Quinn goes way offsides on first down. His fourth offsides of the season. The Lions stay short and convert, nearly losing a fumble but Tashaun Gipson was out of bounds when he recovered. Then Goff completes a pass to the Bears 39. On second down Quinn bolts in to take down D'Andre Swift for a loss of 4 and Lions face third-and-10 at the 38.
    • Once again, the Bears miss Allen Robinson. He doesn't drop that third-down throw. They'll miss him all season in 2022.
    • A tipped pass by Anzalone, who injured Mitchell Trubisky's shoulder last year while with the Saints. So Bears in third-and-8 and Darnell Mooney drops it for the fourth time this year.
    • Detroit lined up offsides on second down and got away with it but David Montgomery bursts for 8 anyway. They need to use him extensively.
    • Bears receiving.  Damiere Byrd sighting on the first play. A 3-yard catch. Typical Andy Dalton throw.

    Pregame

    • Supposedly the drama about a Matt Nagy firing after this game has ended with George McCaskey talking to the team Wednesday and denying the report's validity. However, no one has said Nagy will last the full season and this year in the final two weeks of the season the teams with vacant head coaching jobs are allowed to interview candidates who are with other teams. Actually, the league tried to do this last year but waited too long. They made this announcement at their league meetings before the trading deadline this year. So if Nagy were to be fired in the middle of December, they could interview some of these candidates during the regular season and get a jump on the hiring process that other teams won't get if they fire their coach. Then again, if they don't fire him, then other teams that have already fired their coaches could get the jump on them.
    • Allen Robinson being out with a hamstring injury is especially big here because he and Andy Dalton had a good connection going from the start of spring practices. Can't say that Darnell Mooney has been as connected in the passing attack with Dalton, but he'll have to be today. Robinson's high catch total for the season was the six he made in the opener with Dalton at quarterback.
    • Having safety Eddie Jackson back is huge, even though he was being criticized quite often for his tackling. His ability to direct the defense from the back is critical. Two straight games of secondary confusion on the final drive led to defeats and you have to wonder if they would have been so far out of position to break up passes if Jackson had been over his hamstring injury. Besides, Jackson always seems to play well at Ford Field.

    INACTIVES

    Bears

    QB Justin Fields

    RB Damien Williams

    WR Allen Robinson II

    S Teez Tabor

    TE Jesper Horsted

    DE Akiem Hicks

    DT Mario Edwards Jr.

    Lions

    WR Trinity Benson

    QB David Blough

    OLB Trey Flowers

    T Matt Nelson

    G Halapoulivaati Vaitai

    Twitter: BearDigest@onFanNation
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