Bears Run their way to victory. Beat Lions 48-24

by Dan Peters

The Bears were outgained and shown up by a rookie hotshot quarterback Matt Stafford in the first half of play.. a bad trend by this Bears team so far this season.

They again let their opponent strike first in the initial stages of the game, let them feel cocky and then cut them down to size in the second half. A stone-cold, hard nosed team after the first half of each of the last three games, ready to pounce with takeaways, great special teams returns and long gains on offense that drain the spirit and wind from each opponent.

This type of play has worked for these Bears so far… But the defense knows it has to start showing up in the beginning of a game, not just the second half. "We have to make sure we're getting after the quarterback because otherwise we leave our secondary out to dry," said Alex Brown, who shared a sack with Ogunleye. "(Stafford) threw the ball

for a bunch of yards (221) in that first half. We understand how to finish; we have to learn how to start."

Second half adjustments… on defense.

"We came in at halftime, and coach Smith made an audible," Tillman said. "He told me I would follow Calvin. That was it."

The call to have Charles Tillman follow Calvin Johnson was key to stopping the Lions on offense. In the first half, the Lions receiver had five catches for 119 yards, but in the second half he had only three catches for 14 yards.

Second half adjustments… on offense.

Jay Cutler did not need his special 2 minute drill today… bringing the Bears from behind. The running game finally came out of hibernation.

Shrewd coaching decisions paved the way for the offense on Sunday. The first was by special teams coach Dave Toub, who noticed in the first half that the Lions had a tendency to over pursue on kick returns. So at halftime he told Johnny Knox he

was going to break one. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Toub called for a kick return in which everybody starts out blocking left. Then Knox was supposed to bounce

the return to the right. It could not have worked better, as Knox went 102 yards for a touchdown and a lead the Bears never looked back.

Great field position a key to victory..

With help from Johnny Knox and an outstanding special team’s effort today, the Bears' average starting point of drives was the Lions' 46, and the Lions' average starting point was the Lions' 18.

Knox, Danieal Manning, Devin Hester and Earl Bennett all had long returns; Robbie Gould made a career-long 52-yard field goal; and Brad Maynard landed all four of his punts inside-the- 20, burying two out of bounds at the 6 and the 2.

Cutler passed for two touchdowns, ran for a third and became the first Bears quarterback since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 to post a passer rating of at least 100 in three straight games.

Matt Forte also came out of hibernation, rushing for a season-high 121 yards on 12 carries including a career-long 61-yard run and a 37-yard TD.

Icing on the Cake…

The Bears' offensive domination continued in the fourth quarter when Garrett Wolfe's 2-yard run capped the scoring in a 48-24 rout that elevated the Bears to 3-1 and dropped Detroit to 1-3.

Better luck next game Detroit Lions

How important was this win?

Just ask Jay Cutler. ''There's nothing worse than going into the bye week off of an 'L,''' Cutler said. ''You've got to wait that extra time to play again, and it just sits in the back of your mind. To win three straight, to win a division game at home and go into a bye week is huge for us. We need to heal up and go back and look at past games and see what we were struggling at and really work at it.''

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