There would be no record-setting fourth quarter this time around, but in the end, it wasn't even necessary. In the second meeting with the Bears already this season, Detroit's defense played the biggest part in the Lions coming away with a win. After four interceptions (three of them were in or close to the endzone), the Lions "D" put the team in a position to leave Chicago with a 16-7 victory, which is exactly what they did.
After trading punts to start the game, Chicago got a promising drive going. By just chipping away at the Lions defense and moving down the field a little bit on each play, the Bears looked to be in a position to come away with an easy score. That changed, though, after Shaun Rogers sacked Brian Griese to back the Bears up 7 yards. Although Griese gained some of it back on the following play, it moved the ball back enough to cause Robbie Gould to miss a 40-yard field goal attempt.
Wanting to capitalize on the Chicago mistake, Detroit went down the field firing quickly. Roy Williams was the target and he didn't actually make a catch, but was interfered with. The penalty ended up going for 47 yards, so the Lions caught a major break. It appeared Detroit would get into the endzone with the way things were going, but the drive stalled and they had to settle on a 26-yard field goal.
As I already said, one of the things Detroit wanted to do in this game was capitalize off of mistakes by the Bears. We saw that happen last week against Tampa Bay and it resulted in a win, so why not have more of the same? Well, after Brian Griese was picked off by Kenoy Kennedy in the endzone, the Lions offense really turned it up a notch. Kevin Jones had a solid run for 19 yards and then Jon Kitna found Calvin Johnson twice to combine for 44 yards on the two catches. Kitna fired in a couple more passes to other targets before C.J. gained 11 yards on an end-around to set up a bit TD. From the 4-yard line, Kevin Jones got into the endzone to make it 10-0 Lions after a great drive off the turnover.
After getting the ball back, Chicago went three and out and left Detroit with just enough time to get more points before the half. The Lions didn't have great field position or anything like that, so I just figured they would run out the clock, but instead, they went for points. The decision to do that paid off as Jason Hanson kicked a 52-yard field goal. The ball bounced off the upright but still managed to go over the crossbar to add an additional 3 points to the Lions' score going into the half.
Coming out of the locker rooms, Detroit got the ball first to start the second half. The Lions actually did put together another solid drive, but the end was exactly what the Lions didn't want to happen. After the drive stalled, Jason Hanson came out to kick a 26-yard field goal. Most would've figured it was an easy kick considering he had just made one from 52 yards out, but that wasn't the case. Hanson banged the ball off the upright again, but this time it didn't go through and was no good.
The missed field goal didn't affect the momentum of the game as the next two drives were just punts by both teams, but Devin Hester would be a momentum-changer. Nick Harris tried to punt the ball out-of-bounds, or into Lake Michigan as Rod Marinelli and FOX put it, but the punt went right to Hester. The electrifying returner then took the punt back 39 yards and deep into Lions territory. Just a few or so plays later, Brian Griese hit rookie Greg Olsen from 20 yards out for the touchdown, making it a 13-7 game.
Looking to answer back, the Lions offense again drove down the field. This time the drive got going from a big run by Kevin Jones, who made an impact in a big way during this game as he finished with over 100 yards rushing. After the run, the Lions continued to move the ball and eventually had 5 different chances inside the 5-yard line to score. Problem is, Chicago's defense rose to the challenge every time and forced the Lions to kick a field goal. From short range, Hanson would convert this time, giving Detroit a 16-7 lead.
From this point on in the game, the Detroit defense stood tall. On the very next drive, Keith Smith picked off Brian Griese, allowing the offense to run clock before punting the ball away. After holding Chicago to a three and out, it appeared that the Lions could just sit on the ball and run the clock some more. Well, the dreaded mistake that hadn't happened yet happened. Kevin Jones fumbled the ball away to Chicago and gave the Bears new life you could say.
Faced with an absolute necessary stop after the mistake, the defense wouldn't be deterred. Even after the Bears had moved the ball down the field, it would be an interception by Gerald Alexander at the 5-yard line that ended another promising drive. Getting the ball back, Detroit did manage to take off 4 minutes this time before punting again. Once Chicago had another shot to score late to possibly make it a very close game, Fernando Bryant got an interception in the endzone to end all hope for the Bears.
Jon Kitna took one knee and the game was over. Detroit was victorious by a score of 16-7 and improved to 5-2 on the season. The defense gets the game ball in this one as they made the plays in key situations. Also, though, I give a game ball to Kevin Jones, who really showed up on Sunday to give the Lions a different dynamic on offense.
Detroit now hosts Denver next Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on CBS. The Broncos are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Packers and will be looking to really turn their season around, so it is necessary that Detroit protects its house. Until then, Go Lions!