Behind the Numbers - Chicago Bears

Welcome to the Mane's new weekly segment, Behind the Numbers. Each week we will break down the Lions next opponent and take you one step further, behind the numbers.

The Chicago Bears - A worthy Opponent

Don't let the Bears 2-2 record lead to overconfidence. The two losses have been to the last two Super Bowl winners. the New Orleans Saints and the Green Packers. Their two victories have been against the loser of last years NFC Championship game, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Cam Newton led Carolina Panthers. Read more after the jump...

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 5 MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Edition, 2011

Calvin Johnson makes another spectacular TD grab...can you say SI cover?

Hello again ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the week 5, special Monday Night Football edition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg. This installment of your weekly WS has the Detroit Lions facing the Chicago Bears, at home in Detroit, MI, at Ford Field.   Coming off of their second consecutive come from behind victory versus the Cowboys, the Lions have now won their first 4 games of the season!  I challenge anyone out there to find a Lion's fan that is not absolutely pleased that the Lions will be playing under the national spotlight this week on MNF.  I know I am certainly PUMPED up for this game!  Overall, I am very happy with what the team has accomplished thus far, especially being undefeated going into week 5, but still I remain cautiously optimistic going forward.  The Lions have shown in the past two weeks that they DO NOT give up, and they have truly played with the heart of their namesake in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity.  However, they have also shown that they are definitely NOT perfect and that they have a lot of areas in which they can improve.  Even so, they still have me believing that they WILL take their record to 5-0 this week. With 4 weeks of the season under our belts, I will once again reveal to you who I believe the key players will be, on the Lion's offense and defense, for another Lion VICTORY!   As usual, I will provide you with the logic behind the reasoning for my picks, including stats and a prediction at the end.  I do not feel that the Chicago Bears are even close to as good as the Dallas Cowboys, and I believe that will be self evident in the number of times that we sack Jay Cutler, as well as the success that we should surely find offensively.  The Bears DO have a pretty solid defense though, and their offense CAN be explosive when Cutler has time to throw.   Regardless, VICTORY can still be ours, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W5E begins...after the jump.

WE WIN!

I'm not a Chrysler fan, nor do I advocate their product, but I LOVED this commercial and the message I am giving is this; "We are DETROIT. This is the MOTOR CITY. THIS is what we do. WE WIN!"

Chris Houston goes Primetime!

Chris Houston does his best impersonation of "Primetime" Deion Sanders, after taking a Tony Romo INT to the HOUSE last Sunday!

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 4 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post #2

#59 Bobby Carpenter plays hero for the Lions, as he returns a Tony Romo interception 34 yards for a TD in the 3rd quarter yesterday.  This was Romo's 1st INT of the day, and proved to be the momentum shift that the Lions needed.

I want to start off, once again, by stating the obvious; you win some, you lose some, and you always hope to win more than you lose.  This will be my second Weekend Spotlight follow-up post of the season, and I will be revisiting my pre-game predictions and comments for the Lions vs Cowboys game yesterday.  Once again, I am riding a big high still, as I write this, due to the fact that the Lions overcame a 24 point deficit in an amazing come from behind victory yesterday.  The Cowboys led the Lions by a score of 20-3 at halftime, and they quickly made it 27-3 on the first possession of the second half.  The Cowboys, much like the Vikings the week before, had completely dominated the Lions in every aspect up to that point.  Again however, as we all know, the Lions ROARED back for the second come from behind victory in as many weeks, taking their record to 4-0 with 3 of the 4 victories on the road, which is an NFL record.  It is also the first start 4-0 in Lion's franchise history which includes 3 wins on the road.

The Lions are now riding an NFL high 8 game winning streak, dating back to the last 4 games of the regular season last year, and they have also won 5 straight games on the road, which is also a franchise record.  Like I noted last week, it is obvious that the Lions still have a lot to work on if they hope not only to beat some of the remaining teams on their regular season schedule, but also if they have any hopes of advancing if they make the playoffs.  The biggest thing I took away from this game, much like last week, was the fact that this Lion's team is ALL heart and NO quit.  They never give up, and even if we had lost the game yesterday we could have been proud of this fact.  This is one thing each and every team they face will know...THESE Detroit Lions WILL play a full 60 minutes, and if we let up they will make us pay!

I believe in the idea that the 2011 Detroit Lions can beat any team they have left on their schedule, and the evident lack of quit, which they have clearly shown in the last two games, only stands as testament to that very possibility.  It is a very exciting time to be a Detroit Lion's fan, and it is sweet redemption for all of us who have never given up on them.  All of that aside, I am here to recap my weekly post and talk about the things that I predicted before the game, so without further adieu, I present you with the follow-up to my WS W4E, which will begin after the jump...

Breaking down the Chicago Bears

This can never be allowed to happen again.

You’ll have to forgive Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz should you happen to catch him gazing with naked desire across the field to the Lions sideline on Monday night. Over there will be everything Martz ever desired, and came so very close to having. In 2007, when Martz was offensive coordinator for the Lions, he used all the powers of persuasion he possessed to convince the Lions to draft WR Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech in the 07 draft. If you enjoy Calvin Johnson in the Silver and Blue today, you have Martz to thank for it.

   In many ways, this year for Martz may mark the most handcuffed he has even been in terms of offensive talent to work with. With mercurial QB Jay Cutler at the helm, Martz never knows from week to week what type of QB play he will get. One week, Cutler will look like the second coming of Dan Marino, and the next he will look like Joey Harrington with a fear and paranoia complex. A group of extremely under-achieving receivers gives him headaches, Roy Williams, Devin Hester, and Johnny Knox all take turns with medical cases of “the dropsies”, and under-talented Dane Sanzenbacher provides the steadiest hands at times sheerly by default. The lone consistently bright spot on the Bears offense is Running Back Matt Forte, who provides a Marshall Faulk-like presence in the backfield and seems to get better every year.

This is the man responsible

   Offensively, the Bears offense revolves around Forte. Forte provides both an elite running threat (see last week’s game vs. Panthers, 205 yards rushing), and elite receiving threat out of the backfield, that draws every defensive coordinator’s instant respect. This threat is greatly mollified by the Bears shaky pass protection and below average receivers. If the Lions can stop Forte, which will be one heck of a challenge given their sub-standard run defense thus far, they could cruise to an easy victory. In their only good team category, the Bears rushing offense ranks in the top half of the league, while the Lions rushing defense ranks in the bottom half. Look for the Bears to try and establish the running game early and often, try to set the table for their speed receivers, and try a few vertical pass plays down the field to the speedy Hester and Knox. Expect Martz to do, well, anything. There is a reason they call him the “mad scientist” after all, and his game plan could include anything.

This is the end result of that one play

   Defensively, you have to wonder what has happened to the Bears? Last year the team overcame Defensive Tackle Tommie Harris’s sudden and inexplicable decline to field a top 10 defense and win the division. This year though, it seems offensive coordinators have wised up to the fact that Harris is no longer plugging the middle for the Bears, and the team ranks in the bottom 10 in the league for both rush and pass defense. As the Bears have had to commit more men to “the Box” to help in rush defense, it has opened up favorable matchups for wide receivers on the outside. Although Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs continue to perform at a Pro-Bowl level, they are often put in bad positions by a turnover prone offense, as well as getting cleaned out by offensive linemen coming to the second level of the defense at a higher percentage than last year. Defensively look for the Bears to try and stay honest to the Lions passing game, and force the Lions to prove they can run the ball against their base defense before making any adjustments. If the Bears can check the Lions ground game to minimal gains, it will allow them to play their dominating defense of last year for the first time this season.

   When the Lions have the ball on offense, look for them to immediately begin testing the Bears run defense. The Lions would love to get their running game jump-started, and they may not have a more prime opportunity than against the Bears.  Establishing the game on the ground would have significant side-benefits for the Lions too, keeping All-Pro QB Killer Julius Peppers from pinning his ears back and going green light after Stafford on every down. When passing, anything goes for the Lions versus the Bears. Although the Bears have talent in their secondary, there isn’t a single one-on-one matchup that the Lions can’t win personnel wise against this group.

   Defensively for the Lions, I can only hope that last week served as a wake-up call for this unit. The Lions inability to get a stop on the Cowboys offense in the first half had more to do with their game woes than anything that happened for the Lions offense. The front four philosophy of “play the run on the way to the QB” clearly was not working last week, as the Lions were neither significantly stopping the run, nor getting pressure on Cowboys QB Tony Romo for much of the game. This week, the Lions MUST respect Forte and play smart defensively.

   On special teams, Devin Hester served notice last week that he still needs to be respected as an elite return man, returning a punt for an NFL record 11^th return touchdown. Rookie punter Ryan Donahue should watch some 2007 Lions game tapes and do his best to emulate Rod Marinelli’s “Kick it into Lake Michigan” strategy. Marinelli didn’t do much right, but playing keep-away from Hester was one of his shining moments of brilliance. Jason Hanson’s fading leg strength could give Hester some opportunities in the return game.

   The Monday Night effect – This will be the first Monday night game held in Detroit since, well, let’s just say a very, very, very long time and leave it at that. (Fine, October 8^th, 2001. A 35-0 blowout by the Rams in the Silverdome. Happy?) Let’s hope that the fans attending the game will be smart, give the Lions a home field advantage on defense AND offense, and the Lions should come out of this with a W. The Lions are 3-1 against the Bears on Monday night football, with the last meeting being a Lions win in 1995 at the Silverdome on December 4^th. Since 1990, the Lions own a 4-6 record on MNF.

This will be the latest the Lions have been undefeated since Bobby Layne led the 1956 squad to a 6-0 start 55 years ago.

Final score prediction – We all knew the magic carpet ride was going to end at some point, but not this week baby!!! The Lions crush the Bears this week. Lions 42 – Bears 20.

Lions win thriller! 4 & 0!!!!!!!!!!

Calvin Johnson, AKA MEGATRON, makes a leaping grab against the Cowboys during their big comeback today.

We've all heard the joke in some form or another - When the Lions reach the Superbowl, Hell will freeze over. Well, we're a long way from that yet, but for the first time in forever I'd bet there's a cool breeze winding its way through perdition at the moment. The Lions improbable 34-30 victory over the Cowboys matches their best start since 1980.

Now, for a little bit of history, get ready for this. When the Lions enter the Monday night game on October 10th, it will be the latest in the year they have been undefeated since the 1956 Lions started the season 6-0 under Bobby Layne. Feel the chills. There is no question that much has been made of the connection between Layne and Stafford attending the same high school, but this is amazing.

In this game the Lions certainly used up all the luck in their arsenal.

Looking more like roadkill until they were down 27-3 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the comeback began fittingly with Cowboy castoff Bobby Carpenter, filling in for the injured Justin Durant at Outside Linebacker, intercepting an errant Tony Romo pass and returning it all the way for a touchdown. On the following series, Chris Houston was next to turn the tables on Romo, with a spectacular one-handed interception he tightroped into the endzone for yet another Lions defensive touchdown.

With the score at 27-17, and finally showing signs of life, Suh committed a costly penalty to allow the Cowboys to continue a series that ultimately led to a field goal, making the score 30-17.

That's when the Lions offense came to life.

After being stymied for three quarters of futile play against a seemingly impenetrable Rob Ryan defense, the Lions suddenly began two scintillating drives which ended in touchdowns to Calvin Johnson.

The game ended in just as strange a fashion as it was played. With 11 seconds left on 4th and twenty, and the Cowboys looking to set up a hail mary try, Romo instead opted for a short throw to pick up the first down and get a little closer. However, the Cowboys receiver inexplicably ran out of bounds before the first down marker, turning the ball over to the Lions and effectively ending the game. Final score Lions 34 - Cowboys 30 in a stunner at Cowboys Stadium.

This was a record setting day for the NFL and the Lions. Calvin Johnson became the first player in NFL history with two touchdown receptions in each of his first four games of the regular season. The Lions became the first team in NFL history to come back from a 20 point deficit in back to back games in NFL history. The Dallas Cowboys also saw their largest meltdown in franchise history, allowing a game they led by 24 to slip through their fingers.

The Lions obviously have a lot of work to do, but in the meantime, I'll take the W while they work on the finer points of their game. Go Lions!!!!!!!!!!