The Detroit Lions escaped what would’ve been a brutal collapse vs. the Bears. But there was still more good than bad on Thanksgiving. Let’s hand out some grades.
For the second time this season (Texans game), it was a story of two very different halves for the Detroit Lions on gameday. The first half was utterly dominant against the Chicago Bears , but it was overshadowed by a collapse that nearly cost them the game.
When grading a game like this, it’s important to not overlook both the good and the bad. Because, in the end, the Lions not only got the win, but they outgained the Bears pretty handily both overall (405 vs. 301) and on a per play basis (5.9 vs. 5.1).
Still, there’s plenty to clean up. So let’s hand out some Thanksgiving grades.
Quarterback: B
Jared Goff’s final statline was pretty modest: 21-of-34 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and a 100.2 passer rating. Like for most of the season, Goff did a great job avoiding negative plays and throwing the ball away when he needed to. That said, it did feel like he missed some checkdown opportunities where the Bears were seemingly okay in giving up. Instead, he held onto the ball looking for the perfect play to emerge.
Still, in a game that was as close as it was, not making the fatal mistake at any point in this game turned out to be a pretty huge deal.
Running backs: B+
This would have been an A+ day for the backs had it not been for Jahmyr Gibbs’ costly fumble in the red zone. Detroit was on their way to putting the Bears down 23 points in the first half when Gibbs’ fumble happened. There likely would not have been any late-game dramatics had he held onto the ball. So I’m docking significant points for just that one play.
That said, the duo of Gibbs and David Montgomery was fantastic for the rest of the game. They combined for 175 rushing yards on just 30 carries (5.8 YPC) and added five catches for 53 yards in the receiving game. Neither found the end zone, but that was more due to some questionable red zone calls (more on that later).
Wide receivers: B-
Again, a strong day from this group was marred by a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. Jameson Williams was electric with the ball in his hands, but his day was overshadowed by a lose-your-cool moment that cost the Lions 15 yards. He was also flagged for a crackback block, although I didn’t personally agree with that call.
Amon-Ra St. Brown turned five catches into 73 yards, but a holding penalty in the red zone moved the Lions from the 2-yard line to the 14, eventually leading to a field goal instead of a prime touchdown opportunity.
Tim Patrick continues to be a very strong weapon for this team, though. Though he only had two catches, both were explosive plays: gains of 30 and 18 yards.
Tight ends: A
Sam LaPorta only had three catches for 6 yards, but two of those were for touchdowns—something that is not easy to do against a top-five red zone defense. Additionally, Brock Wright had another big play—a 13-yard catch to get a second-half drive off to a strong start.
I did not notice any blocking issues from this group upon live viewing.
Offensive line: A-
For as much warranted worry as there was with no Taylor Decker in the lineup, I thought the offensive line fared quite well. Jared Goff only took one sack and three quarterback hits. The line was also opening up massive holes in the run game early and often, leading to Detroit’s second-highest rushing total of the season (194). That said, it’s hard to overlook the Lions’ failed third-and-1 conversion late, where Montgomery had absolutely nowhere to go and actually lost a yard. I’ll only ding them half a grade there because otherwise, it was a very strong performance.
Defensive line: A-
The defensive line pressure wasn’t there consistently all game, but it certainly came up in big moments. And considering all of the injuries this group endured, this was a pretty impressive performance from a bunch of reserve players.
In fact, three of the best performances of the day came from this unit:
- DJ Reader: 3 QB hits, 2.0 sacks
- Za’Darius Smith: 3 QB hits, 1.5 sacks
- Al-Quadin Muhammad: 1 QB hit, 1.0 sack, 1 pass defended
On top of that, D’Andre Swift was a non-factor in the run game, rushing for just 39 yards on 11 carries. Essentially, the Bears had to abandon the run completely in the second half, allowing Detroit to pin their ears back and pass rush.
Again, there were times in which the pass rush was absent for too long—which allowed receivers to get wide open—but in the clutch, this group performed.
Linebackers: B
Early on, this group was making some huge plays. Malcolm Rodriguez played a wheel route perfectly—a tough ask—picking up a pass batted down to add to his five tackles before an injury took him out of the game. Jack Campbell provided a couple of big third-down plays: first a pressure that forced a throwaway, and then he tracked down Caleb Williams to force him out of bounds 3 yards short of the sticks. Even David Long was out there making plays.
But after the Rodriguez injury, the defense took a notable step back, and some of the crossing routes over the middle became open.
Defensive backs: C+
This was the biggest difference between the first and second halves, in my opinion. In the first two quarters, the Lions secondary absolutely clamped down the Bears receivers. Williams found nobody open, and both Terrion Arnold and Kerby Joseph came up with some huge pass breakups to hold Chicago without a first down until the final seconds of the first half.
But in the second half, the Lions’ man coverage was not holding up. They weren’t helped by occasional lapses in pass rush, but it became clear as the day went on that the Bears’ talented receiving corps was too much for them. Both DJ Moore (eight catches, 97 yards, TD) and Keenan Allen (five catches, 73 yards, 2 TDs) were winning their 1-on-1s consistently in the second half. 163 of their collective 170 yards came in the final two quarters.
Special teams: B
For most of the game, special teams was just fine. After bobbling his first punt return, Maurice Alexander was just fine back there, and the Lions’ coverage team only had to deal with one return—a kickoff that was tackled well before the 30-yard line.
But this unit was defined by two key plays: one good, one bad. Jake Bates’ critical miss—his first missed field goal of the season—quite nearly cost the Lions an opportunity to put the game away. However, Jack Fox’s last punt of the game—which was downed at the Bears’ 1-yard line—turned out to be one of the most important plays. That forced the Bears to drive the entire length of the field to tie or win the game, and when you give the Bears that much rope, they’ll eventually find a way to hang themselves with it.
Coaching: B
First of all, let’s give thanks to Lions’ coaching staff for not being the Bears’ coaching staff. Matt Eberflus put up a masterclass of terrible game management at the end, and he also had a horrible challenge to go with his embarrassing day.
As for the Lions, I don’t think there was anything Dan Campbell did, in particular, that was a mistake. You could make the argument that he should have gone for it late on fourth-and-2 from his own 38-yard line—and he’s gone for it in situations like that before—but Detroit’s defense was on its heels at that point, and potentially giving them a short field would’ve been terrible. The subsequent punt was downed at the 1-yard line, so that choice worked out just about as well as it could’ve.
I don’t love criticizing play calling because it’s the easiest and laziest thing to do with the benefit of hindsight. However, it just didn’t feel like offensive coordinator Ben Johnson did himself any favors in the red zone.
It also felt like they went away from the run game in the second half. After carrying it a combined 20 times in the first quarter, Gibbs and Montgomery had just 10 carries in the second half (although, they ran far fewer offensive plays in the second half).
Still, I think the main problem with the offense in the second half was more execution based than poor play-calling, so it was overall a relatively positive day from the coaching staff.