Bears vs. Lions: Fans Shouldn't Get Too Excited About Jahvid Best's Big Game

For a second there on Monday night, it looked like Barry Sanders was back on the field, 15 years younger, and wearing a Detroit Lions uniform once again.

But nope. That was just Jahvid Best, who spent the bulk of the Lions' 24-13 win over the Chicago Bears doing his best Barry Sanders impression. He rushed for 163 yards and scored on an 88-yard run in the third quarter that got the crowd packed into Ford Field all riled up.

That probably has a lot to do with the fact that Detroit fans had never seen anything like that from Best before.

Coming into Monday night, he had yet to rush for 100 yards in a game, and the longest run he had been able to manage at the NFL level was a mere 45-yarder last December (coincidentally, it came against the Bears).

But what we saw from Best on Monday night is nothing I hadn't seen before. When I was at Cal in 2008 and 2009, I used to time my study breaks on Saturdays to coincide with Bears (of the Golden variety) games.

Best would break long, explosive runs all the time, and it was very common to see him end up with gaudy rushing totals.

Clearly, the Lions were watching too, and they also liked what they saw. Hence the reason they used a first-round pick on Best in the 2010 draft. On Monday night, Best rewarded their faith in a big way.

The question, I guess, is whether or not Best will start rewarding the Lions' faith in him on a more regular basis. After struggling to get on track for over a year, maybe what we saw on Monday night was the birth of a star.

That would definitely be nice. But alas, I have my doubts.

My main concern about Best heading into Monday night concerned his ability to carry a full workload. For all his explosiveness, he has just never seemed like the kind of running back who can carry the rock upwards of 20 times a game and simultaneously produce results.

I'm still not sure he can do this. Best has carried the ball more than 20 times exactly once in his career. That was back in Week 1 of this season, and the results were mixed. Best has carried the ball no more than 16 times since.

Last night, Best had 12 carries, a number that I think is going to be pretty typical for him for the foreseeable future. He had 12 carries in Week 3, and 11 in Week 4.

The difference on Monday night was that Best had more open lanes to run through. That is reflected in the fact that he averaged better than 13 yards per carry.

Needless to say, that's not likely to happen again. After the kind of night he just had, the only way Best's numbers are going to do is down.

Thankfully, they won't go that far down. Best may not be a rushing yards machine, but he does have the goods to be a total yards machine. He'll get his 12-15 carries per game, and he'll get four or five more touches per game in the Lions' passing attack.

Obviously, this means Best won't be Barry Sanders. He'll be more like a Reggie Bush. Or at least, what Reggie Bush was supposed to be.

If Best can be that, he and the Lions are going to be just fine.