A familiar script was written again on Thanksgiving for the Detroit Lions. A close game was hanging in the balance that they ultimately lost.
This time it was the Chicago Bears who finished off the Lions, 16-14, in Detroit. The loss dropped the fighting Dan Campbells to 0-10-1 on the season.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the Lions’ loss to the Bears.
8:30
Chicago had the ball after getting a defensive stop with eight-and-a-half minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Lions were clinging to a 14-13 lead. The Bears would go on to rock everyone to sleep with one of the most boring yet effective drives of their season.
Andy Dalton led the Bears to an 18-play drive that spanned 69 yards and used up all eight minutes and 30 seconds. The result? A Cairo Santos 28-yard field goal as time expired sent Lions fans toward exit signs.
The drive included two third-down conversions, and Chicago was also aided by two Lions penalties. Detroit looked lost at the tail end of the sequence, and the Bears capitalized. The drive encapsulated everything that has gone wrong with the Lions this year and felt like one giant, painful death.
10
Detroit was penalized ten times against the Bears in what was a sloppy game that occasionally was hard on the eyes.
On two separate possessions, one in each half, the Lions were faced with a 3rd and 32 because of penalties. Good luck finding that happening to another team in the NFL at any point in time. The disaster continued.
With Chicago moving downfield on what ended up being the last drive of the game, they were facing a 3rd and 9 with 1:54 to go. The Lions tried using back-to-back timeouts, which you can’t do and were penalized five yards. The Bears moved up five yards, converted the third down with ease, and melted away the rest of the clock.
This year’s losses for Detroit have been brutal, but not many have felt as self-inflicted as this one on Thanksgiving.
6
Andy Dalton was back under center, filling in for an injured Justin Fields. He proved to be very efficient in helping lead the Bears to a victory. Six different Chicago playmakers caught a pass that went for over 10 yards. The list includes the likes of Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet, Damiere Byrd, Jimmy Graham, David Montgomery, and Jakeem Grant.
The big chunk plays helped keep Chicago’s drive alive and kept the Detroit defense on their toes for most of the afternoon. The Bears only scored 16 points, but that ended up being enough. Those big plays in the passing game proved to be one of the most significant difference makers.
76
When D’Andre Swift left with a shoulder injury and didn’t return, the Lions turned to Jamaal Williams to handle the role of lead dog in the backfield. The running game that has been used relentlessly in recent weeks didn’t have near the impact Detroit had hoped against Chicago.
The total workload was lessened in the ground game, with Williams finishing with 65 yards on 15 carries. The Lions only mustered 76 total yards rushing against Chicago as a team.
Before Swift’s exit, he had three carries for zero yards.
Detroit has gone to a much more conservative approach ever since Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties in the middle of November. Possessions and touches were limited in this game, and the 76 yards rushing likely fell far short of what Campbell was expecting from that group.
To Chicago’s credit, they were getting a push at the line of scrimmage on many of those opportunities for Detroit. Despite the struggles last week, it’s a safe bet that Campbell will go right back to the ground game this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
2
Consistent with their narrative this year, the Lions couldn’t make enough plays by the time the clock ran out. In this particular game against the Bears, Detroit had the lead on two occasions but couldn’t finish the job. Jared Goff and the offense marched right down the field in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. In the third quarter, they did the same to regain a 14-13 advantage. Chicago still came out on top.
Those situations will haunt the Lions a bit, knowing that they held control at two different stages against Andy Dalton. Instead of the first win of the season, it was the 10th loss of the campaign. There’s no time to sulk as the Lions will get ready to welcome the Vikings in Week 13.
