Oct

30

NFL Week 8 Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears - Recap

Posted by Mack

October 30, 2007 |

  • NFL Week 8 Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears - Recap

Photos in article Source: Detroit News

For the 2nd time this season the Lions have won a game on the road beating the Chicago Bears 16-7 in Soldier Field on Sunday. The closeness of the score was not indicative of how much the Lions dominated the Bears.  In fact Your ‘Lion Eyes’ blogger believes this performance by the Detroit Lions was the most impressive all around game played on the road by this team since the Thursday in October 2000 in Tampa Bay. That season the Lions also moved to 5-2 after the win in Tampa Bay and things looked good for the Lions to make a run to the playoffs. Amazingly just two weeks after that impressive win, the Lions had lost at Indianapolis and then came home and played terribly and got routed by the Miami Dolphins and Coach Bobby Ross abruptly quit the next day. It has been all bad for the Detroiters since then. Sunday was a Quality NFL win on the road against a Quality team. Remember the Bears were in the Super Bowl last year. Now they are 5-2 again and this time they are coming home to Ford Field next week to face the Denver Broncos in Detroit. Following Coach Rod Marinelli mantra of playing the next play, the Lions are only focusing on the Broncos now and the Bears are in the past.

Chicago came out in their Alternate Orange Jerseys for the game. The Bears started with the ball after a nice kick off return by WR Devin Hester. QB Brian Griese tried 3 passes but didn’t get a 1st down and it is three and out and punt. The Lions start deep in their own territory. Detroit only manages one 1st down and for the first time punt deep out of bounds to keep the ball away from Hester. On the Bears 2nd possession Chicago moved the ball with short passes and some RB Cedric Benson rushes, getting the ball all the way down to the Lions 19 yard line. Detroit gets a sack from DT Shaun Rogers that pushes the Bears back and they have to attempt a 40 yard Field Goal which is missed by K Robbie Gould. Detroit’s 2nd possession looks like it is going to be a 3 and out but a 47 yard pass interference penalty against the Bears moved the Lions deep into Bear territory. The Lions ended up with 1st and goal from the Bears 5 but could not get a TD and settled for a K Jason Hanson 26 yard Field Goal to make it 3 - 0 Lions with the first play of the 2nd Quarter. Chicago starts with good field position after the Lions again kick away from WR Devin Hester. The Bears get only one 1st down and have a couple penalties that forces them to punt back to Detroit. Starting deep in their own territory the Lions get a good run from RB Kevin Jones to get to 3rd and inches from their own 12 yard line. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz calls a pass out of 3rd and inches and QB Jon Kitna is sacked forcing the Lions to punt. Again punting away from WR Devin Hester the Bears start out near mid-field and QB Brian Griese moves them into scoring territory mixing in runs and short passes. Griese makes a mistake though on a throw to the corner of the endzone and the pass is intercepted by S Kenoy Kennedy and returned to the Lions 7 yard line. QB Jon Kitna leads the Lions on their best drive of the day going 93 yards in only 8 plays and using 3 and 1/2 minutes to get the Lions in the endzone and a 10-0 lead. WR Calvin Johnson caught 2 passes on the drive for 44 yards and had a end around run for 11 yards. Kevin Jones TDRB Kevin Jones ended the drive with a 4 yard TD run. Chicago gets the ball at their own 20 after a Touchback on the kickoff. The Bears only manage one 1st down and punt the ball back to the Lions who start on their own 22 with just over a minute left in the 1st half. Kitna connects on a couple passes to WR Shaun McDonald and then a long pass to WR Roy Williams down to the Bears 34. Kitna tries one more long pass to Williams but doesn’t connect and K Jason Hanson comes on to try a 52 yard Field Goal. Hanson hits the right upright but the ball bounces over the cross bar and at the half the Lions lead 13-0.

Detroit starts the 2nd half with the ball and a 13-0 lead. Kitna leads another crisp looking drive. Kevin Jones is moving the ball on the ground and Kitna is getting plenty of time during pass attempts to find 2nd and 3rd options in the passing game. The Lions get to the Bears 11 yard line and the trouble with Red-Zone offense crops up again and the Lions are forced to attempt a 29 yard Field Goal. Hanson misses the Field Goal for only his 3rd miss from inside 30 yards during his Lion career. Chicago follows up the missed kick with a 3 and out. Detroit comes right back with a 3 and out and has to punt to Devin Hester and he makes the Lions pay with a awesome punt return all the way to the Lions 26. Brian Griese gets the Bears in the endzone with a 20 yard pass to TE Greg Olsen to cut the Lions lead to 13-7.  Detroit gets the ball after the kickoff and on the 1st play Kevin Jones breaks a 34 yard run down to the Bears 35 yard line. Kitna continues the drive hitting passes to Shaun McDonald, Mike Furrey and Roy Williams and ended up with 4th and inches on the 2 yard line. What happened next is something that has happened so many times to the Lions defenders in the past. Didn’t seem like Kitna did a hard count but somehow Bear DT Tommie Harris jumped offside and gave the Lions a 1st down on the 1 yard line. Detroit had three tries but could not push the ball in the endzone. Once again Detroit settled for another short Field Goal by Jason Hanson to make it 16-7 Lions to start the 4th Quarter. Chicago starts on their own 40 after Hanson kicks off out of bounds. Griese only has 2 plays an incompletion to Berrian and then a interception by CB Keith Smith. Detroit has a 6 play drive and then punts out of bounds. Chicago goes 3 and out from deep in their own territory and Detroit gets the ball at the Bears 40 with an opportunity to put the game away. RB Kevin Jones promptly fumbles on Detroits 1st play and Chicago gets the ball back at their own 39. Griese starts a drive and moves the Bears to the Lions 42 when Griese tries a pass deep into the endzone. S Gerald Alexander intercepts and returns 36 yards to the Lions 31. Detroit doesn’t move the ball but runs 6 plays and takes 4 minutes off the clock. P Nick Harris punts out of bounds on the Bears 9 yard line. Griese moves the Bears down the field with short passes and Chicago was successful in getting out of boundsfernando bryant to get the clock stopped. With 45 seconds left Griese threw in the endzone to WR Muhsin Muhammad. CB Fernando Bryant easily intercepted the ball for the Lions 4th interception of the game and 3rd in their own endzone. Detroit kneels and runs out the clock and leave Soldier Field with a 16-7 victory to get to 5-2 on the season.   

Complete NFL Game Statistical Summary can be seen here.
National Football League Game Summary Source: NFL

Stats for Detroit vs Chicago NFL Week 8

Passing Attempts Completions-Yds-Int TDs Rating/Sacks
Jon Kitna - Detroit 34 25 - 268 - 0 0 91.1 - 4
Brian Griese - Chicago 40 22 - 208 - 4 1 38.3 - 2
Receiving Catches Yards TDs Yards/Catch
Roy Williams  - Det 8 77 9.6
Shaun McDonald - Det 6 64 10.7
Mike Furrey - Detroit 3 44 14.7
Calvin Johnson - Det 2 44 22.0
Greg Olsen - Chicago 6 59 1 9.8
Adrian Peterson - Chi 6 41 6.8
Bernard Berrian - Chi 4 45   11.3
Time of Possession 3rd Down Efficiency
Detroit 34:54 Detroit 4-13 31%
Chicago 25:06 Chicago 7-14 50%
Rushing Carries Yards TDs Avg Per Carry
Kevin Jones - Det 23 105 1 4.6
Calvin Johnson - Det 1 11   11
Cedric Benson - Chic 13 50 3.8

Cast your vote in this weeks Poll.

Which team will Win the Game on Sunday November 4, 2007

  • Detroit Lions (68%, 21 Votes)
  • Denver Broncos (32%, 10 Votes)

Total Voters: 31

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