Detroit Lions grades vs. Bears: Both lines disappoint in rough showing across the board
CHICAGO – Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 28-13 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Quarterback
Jared Goff said he was to blame for the fumbled quarterback-center exchange late in the third quarter that led to a Bears touchdown and extinguished any hopes of a Lions comeback. Center Graham Glasgow might have shared in fault on the play, but Goff finished with a season-low 161 yards on a tough passing day in cold and blustery conditions. He did make a couple tight-window throws for first downs, including one on a third-and-2 pass to Sam LaPorta, but he never found a rhythm with the offense constantly behind the chains. Goff threw two interceptions Sunday, giving him five in two games against the Bears this season, but both came on fourth downs in nothing-to-lose situations. Goff was lucky to avoid a third interception when Jaquan Brisker mistimed his jump and ended up with only a pass deflection on a careless throw over the middle. Grade: D-plus
Running backs
Jahmyr Gibbs had the longest run of the game, a 36-yarder late in the first quarter, but he also had a costly drop on the same drive when he had enough blocking in front of him to score a touchdown and a fumble that bounced out of bounds in the first half. Gibbs finished with 66 yards rushing on 11 carries and made a great individual effort to pick up a first down on a third-and-4 play late in the first half when he shook Tremaine Edmunds in the open field, then spun away from a second tackler. David Montgomery added 10 carries for 66 yards, though he did most of his damage with the Lions in catch-up mode late. Montgomery did convert a third-and-10 screen pass, with a heady cutback across the field for a first down. Grade: C-minus
Receivers/tight ends
Amon-Ra St. Brown had an uncharacteristically rough day, catching just three of nine passes thrown his way for 21 yards. He had an especially frustrating series in the fourth quarter when he dropped one pass and couldn’t secure two others, including a fourth-and-17 throw that was low but bounced off his chest as he slid to the ground. Josh Reynolds ran a nice route on his touchdown, beating Tyrique Stevenson inside with the single-high safety help shaded to the opposite side of the field, and Donovan Peoples-Jones made his first catch as a Lion on a crossing route to convert a fourth-and-3. Jameson Williams didn’t have a catch and appeared to turn the wrong way on his only target of the game, a deep ball early in the second half. Grade: D-plus
GAME STORY: Detroit Lions thumped by Chicago Bears, 28-13, in jarring performance
Offensive line
Dan Campbell said he thought his offensive line was good in pass protection, but Goff was sacked four times (with three of the sacks coming late in the fourth quarter) and the line committed four penalties. In addition to having a hand in the fumble, Glasgow, starting at center in place of the injured Frank Ragnow, was flagged for tripping on the game’s opening drive. Yannick Ngakoue used a stiff arm to beat Taylor Decker for a drive-stalling sack two plays later. Gibbs’ long run came behind a creative formation, the Lions moved Penei Sewell to left tackle and played Decker next to him on an unbalanced line. Decker, Jonah Jackson and Kayode Awosika all had nice second-level blocks on the play. Jackson, Awosika and Sewell also had false starts. Grade: D
Defensive line
Aidan Hutchinson made two costly plays that gave the Bears 12 points late in the game. Hutchinson jumped across the line of scrimmage with Chicago trying to draw the Lions offsides on a fourth-and-13 late in the third quarter. Justin Fields took advantage of the free play and threw a 38-yard touchdown to D.J. Moore. Hutchinson ran an ill-advised stunt on Chicago’s next series, and when Levi Onwuzurike couldn’t get to the edge it left Fields open to scramble for a touchdown on third-and-11. Hutchinson did have a coverage sack in the second quarter, when he stayed active against two blockers to yank Fields to the ground, and another pressure that forced a punt.
John Cominsky had his best game of the season with seven tackles and a sack, and Romeo and Julian Okwara both had pressures to force incompletions. The Lions held Fields to 58 yards rushing on 12 carries, the first time they’ve kept him under 100 yards since 2021. They weren’t great against Fields early; Benito Jones let Field slip through his grasp in the backfield on a third-and-13 run and Hutchinson and Alex Anzalone couldn’t bring him down on a 19-yard gain. But the group mostly bottled up Fields over the final three quarters. Grade: D
Linebackers
Anzalone also missed a tackle on the second play of the game on a check down to D’Onta Foreman and was flagged for a late hit penalty later in the first quarter. He and Jack Campbell tied for the team-lead with nine tackles, and Campbell played another strong overall game. Jalen-Reeves Maybin had a drive-stalling sack late in the first quarter off a zone blitz that confused Chicago’s offensive line and a pass deflection on a throw over the middle in the third quarter, and Derrick Barnes (six tackles) had one quarterback hit playing primarily as an edge defender to thwart Fields. Barnes did crash too hard on one zone read play when Fields got outside for an 11-yard gain. Grade: C-plus
Defensive backs
Hutchinson’s penalty on the Bears’ go-ahead touchdown was a big one, but Jerry Jacobs also got beat cleanly on the play and had no safety help over top with Kerby Joseph on the far side of the field and Ifeatu Melifonwu keying on an underneath route by Cole Kmet. Melifonwu started at safety in place of Tracy Walker and had four tackles, including a stop on a fourth-and-1 tush-push toss play when he stayed home to stuff Darnell Mooney. Jacobs, who split No. 2 cornerback snaps with Kindle Vildor, got his fingertips on a pass just before halftime with the Bears trying to get in field goal range but also was called for a pass interference penalty. Joseph has a pass breakup in the end zone but was lucky not to get beat for a touchdown when Kmet got behind him on a play but Fields didn’t see the open receiver downfield. Grade: C-minus
WAS THERE A RECEIVER? Dan Campbell: 'No answer' why refs didn't flag Justin Fields for intentional grounding
Special teams
It was a mixed day on special teams for the Lions as Riley Patterson missed an extra point after a poor snap by Jake McQuaide and Jack Fox was forced to make one tackle in punt coverage after Craig Reynolds appeared to lose outside contain on Velus Jones. Khalil Dorsey did make a nice open-field tackle on Fox’s first punt, and Romeo Okwara hopped through the line to block an extra point that Benito Jones returned into Bears territory. Patterson did not attempt a field goal. Grade: C
Coaching
Dan Campbell said he might need to “push it a little bit more (and) be a little more irritable” after the Lions had another sloppy performance. I tend to put the types of mistakes the Lions had Sunday on players more than coaches, but something hasn’t been right about this team since the bye. The Lions have 10 turnovers in their past four games and are lucky not to have more, and the defense seems to be suffering from a case of players trying to do too much.
Aaron Glenn’s defense did a better job containing Fields apart from a couple of early hiccups and Hutchinson’s YOLO pass rush at the end, and the moves he made with personnel seemed to have a generally positive impact. On offense, Ben Johnson had his usual creative wrinkles. He gave LaPorta a carry on a fullback dive and shifted personnel on the line as a piece of eye candy the Bears bit on. But the Lions continue to struggle in the third quarter and they lost to an improving but inferior team. Campbell lost his only challenge of the game, too, but it was a worthwhile attempt when Kmet made a juggling catch for a first down. Grade: D
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions grades vs. Bears: Rough day across the board in bad loss
