Bears – 48

Lions – 24

After snapping what seemed to be an endless losing streak, the Lions entered Soldier Field and left with a dose of reality.  The Bears knew this game should not be taken lightly and they played well until the finish as they improved to 3-1 on the season.

The Bears defense got off to a slow start while allowing rookie Matt Stafford to find easy completions all over the field.  After scoring on their first two possessions, the Bears D looked like it was in for a long day.  Fortunately Jay Cutler and the offense responded well and scored with relative ease to keep the game within reach.

Trailing 7-0, Cutler drove the Bears down the field and tied up the game when he leapt for the endzone and got smashed by defenders as he crossed the goal line.  Many Bears fans may have to look as far back as Jim McMahon to see this type of intensity and desire to score.  That was certainly a site to see.

After the Cutler touchdown jumpstarted the offense, the teams went into the half tied at 21.  However, the Bears decided to make adjustments while the Lions failed to do so.  Johnny Knox opened the second half with a 102 kick off return for a score and the Bears never looked back.  The high powered Detroit offense from the first half disappeared as the same bad Lions we all know re-emerged to score only 3 points in the second half.

With Lance Briggs leading the defense, the Lions struggled to figure out the Bears in the second half.  Briggs was again a menace on the field today, totaling 9 total tackles.  He is well on his way to his 5th Pro Bowl.  As a unit, the Bears defense registered 5 sacks today with Ogunleye recording 2.5.

Matt Forte and the running game finally found success today.  Forte totaled 121 yards on 12 attempts and found the endzone on a 37 yard run.  Hopefully this helps snap the offensive line and Matt Forte out of the funk they have been stuck in this season.  A successful running game will be key to allowing Cutler to open up the game more with the pass.

Jay Cutler quietly had a good performance.  He completed 18 of 28 passes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The high powered passing game was not needed today as the Bears found success on special teams and with the run.

On the negative side, the Bears pass defense really looked awful in the first half while Matt Stafford looked like Joe Montana.  This will need to improve as the Bears move forward.  The defense has to start playing strong for a complete game, not just late in the games.

Also, the injury bug continues to bite the Bears.  Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, and Adrian Peterson left the game with injuries.  Hopefully these injuries are not too serious.  Hester and Knox are key members in the passing game as well as the return game while Peterson is a stud on special teams.  The good news is that if these are minor injuries, they will have an extra week to heal as the Bears have a bye in week 5.  The Bears need to take the bye week to work on the pass defense and running game.  When they return to action, the Bears face two tough road challenges in Atlanta and Cincinnati.

The bottom line good news though is that the Bears are 3-1 after the first quarter of the season, exceeding the expectations of many.