Detroit Lions Monday Morning Quarterback: Week One Vs Chicago Bears

The Game

By now we all know about the call.  I think Lions fans may have a new least favorite word, process.

The Bears came away with a 19-14 win, in a game marred by turnovers on both sides. 

Lovie Smith gets to keep his job for another week but it’s not because he didn’t try hard to get fired.  With ten minutes left in the game and down by one, the Bears inexplicably decided to go for it on 4^th down instead of sending in one of the games all time accurate kickers to try a chip shot field goal to take the lead.

This isn’t a case of the Bears had to score a touchdown because they couldn’t stop the other team, the Lions were doing nothing on offense for most of the game.

The Lions should have won this game but who is to blame for the last controversial incomplete pass call in the end zone, the rulebook, the referee, or Calvin Johnson?

The Good

The defensive line

They were as good as advertised.  The defensive line accounted for 20 tackles and four sacks.  Those are good numbers by any measure.  The stand they made on their own one yard line would be talked about a lot more had the Lions won the game.

Louis Delmas

Eight tackles, a forced fumble, and several jarring hits remind is why Delmas is so important to the Lions.

Julian Peterson

Peterson played at the Pro Bowl level that we all hopped he would play at last year.  He seems to be much more comfortable dropping back in coverage.  He was directly responsible for two turnovers.

Turnovers

For a team that couldn’t buy a turnover in 2009, it was nice to see them force a few for a change.

The Bad

The running game

This had to come as a shock to Lions’ fans.  A team that was getting 4-5 yards a carry in the preseason when Jahvid Best was in the game, wasn’t able to get anything from the run game. 

This is a big concern especially when the fact that the Bears were playing two deep zone the entire game.

Matthew Stafford’s shoulders

Is anyone else getting images of Charles Rogers? At least Stafford is not out for the season! In 11 starts Stafford has now had three major injuries and that is a cause for concern. 

Middle Linebacker Injuries

The lions are now down to their fourth string middle linebacker.  They really need DeAndre Levy to come back next week to have any chance against the Eagles.

Jeff Backus

The sad thing is that Backus did a good job on Peppers for most of the game, but now all anyone is going to see is that he got blown away on the play where Stafford got injured.  Backus biggest mistake on the play is not getting beat, he is not the first one Peppers has beaten, his biggest mistake is not tackling Peppers or at least holding him to protect his quarterback.  Had he done that, Stafford would be healthy this morning and the Lions would have just run the clock out and not given up the late field goal.

The last two plays

After getting jobbed by the referees the Lions decided to go to Calvin Johnson two more times at the end of the game.  Everybody in the stadium knew the Lions would go to Calvin Johnson as did the Bears who had him double covered.  My feeling is with over 20 seconds left they should have made one more pass to the sideline to get a closer shot at the end zone.

The Ugly

Complete the process

Don’t ask me what that means because in my opinion that leaves it up to the referee to decide when a catch has been made.  In my humble opinion that was a catch. Another writer on here decided to blame Calvin Johnson for the loss, but I have to disagree.  When the NFL can hardly explain such an obscure rule, how is Calvin Johnson supposed to know?

This is assuming that the rule is a good one

Misleading Stat of the Day:

372 passing yards by Cutler

372 yards make it look like Cutler had a good day but that is misleading.  Of his 12 incompletions, most of them where badly thrown balls where a good pass would have resulted in a completion.  89 of his passing yards were a result of a very good play by Matt Forte.

Play of the Day

The play of the day was the goal line stand that the defense had after Sean Hill Fumbled at the one yard line.  Had the Lions won that is what we all would be talking about right now.

Quote of the Day

"I saw it exactly the way (the referee) did. Didn't really think they had to look at the replay. The rule says you have to come down and complete the catch all the way through. The ball came out at the end, so I thought it was pretty cut-and-dry." – Lovie Smith. 

Random Thoughts

Don’t you just want to call Lovie Smith a liar after his take on the Calvin Johnson catch?

Did Calvin Johnson get scared of falling down and put his hand out to brace himself on the non-catch catch play?

Are the Lions going to go OT in next year’s draft?

Is it time to stop blaming everybody else for the Lions’ lack of ability to run the ball and point the finger at Dominic Raiola?

How many times can the Lions’ middle linebacker get injured?

Overall Impression

The loss of the game is tough to swallow, the loss of Stafford is devastating.

Next Week

The Philadelphia Eagles come into town for the Lions’ home opener.  The Eagles also lost their starting quarterback, Kevin Kolb, to an injury, however Michael Vick came in and outplayed Kolb.

It will be interesting to see how Vick plays if he gets to start the game.  It will be his first start in over four years.