The Chicago Bears defense continued a worrying trend heading into the playoffs, allowing an opponent more than 400 yards of offense for a second straight week during Sunday’s 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The Lions put up 433 yards of offense a week after the Bears defense allowed 496 yards to the San Francisco 49ers in a 42-38 loss in Week 17.
Unlike their game against the 49ers, the Bears defense held the Lions to mostly field goals (four of them), though it allowed Jahmyr Gibbs’ 15-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
The Lions punted twice, Jake Bates missed a 53-yard field goal attempt and Bears safety Kevin Byard III halted one drive with his seventh interception of the season
“Any loss is tough, especially losing at home against the division opponent,” Byard said. “We just didn’t play well enough early in the game. Too many long drives, wasn’t able to get off the field on third downs. I think in the second half, we started to play a little bit better.”
“Definitely frustrated,” linebacker D’Marco Jackson said. “Obviously, we (were) on the wrong end of the scoreboard, like with points. So obviously ain’t too happy about that.”
The Bears defense has until Saturday to search for solutions, when they’ll host the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round for their third meeting this season.
And thanks to the Washington Commanders’ 24-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bears hung onto the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
“New season. A new season was reset,” Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said of the pending playoffs. “When we prepare throughout the week, the way we eat, the way we think, where we talk, the best is required, and it’s time to go to work.”
“It’s playoff time,” Brisker added. “It’s win or go home. We’ve got to all look at ourselves in the mirror and just play how we’ve been playing all year. We’re one of the top defenses in the league, we take the ball away and things like that. So that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Several of the Bears’ defenders said they’ll have to refer to film for answers, but one area of concern would be the explosive plays they coughed up.
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown caught nine passes for 110 yards in the first half and finished with 139 yards on 11 catches. Jameson Williams had six catches for 74 yards in the game.
“We knew what they were going to do, but I just don’t think we did a good enough job executing what we needed to do to be able to get those stops, and those explosive plays just kind of kept those drives going,” Byard said. “We (were) able to force field goals in the red zone, but we’re just being on the field way too long.”
It was a tough day for the Bears’ defensive backs overall, with C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Nahshon Wright and Jaylon Johnson giving up chunk plays in critical situations.
Lions coach Dan Campbell credited “our playmakers making plays. That includes (Kalif Raymond). He had some big plays for us and (Jameson Williams) was huge once again. When is he not huge?”
While it didn’t stand out as an eyesore as much as the pass defense, the run defense didn’t fare all that well either.
Gibbs ran for 80 yards and former Bear David Montgomery added 42. They averaged 4.2 and 5.3 yards per carry, respectively.
On Thursday, Lions offensive coordinator John Morton had sounded confident about the matchup.
“With Chicago, I think we can get after these guys a little bit, I really do,” he said. “They’re giving up almost five yards a carry, so I like our chances there with this defense. So, I like the matchup here and I liked it the first game.”
The Bears defense also couldn’t get off the field on third down, with Detroit going 6-for-13 (46%).
“Third down was really good for us. Really good,” Campbell said.
Brisker said the Bears’ coverage scheme played a role in the Lions’ explosive plays.
“We were playing a whole bunch of man today, no help in the middle,” he said. “Lot of picks, rubs — really, they schemed us up and we just had to do a better job covering. So, yeah, they just got us in the right call, they just out-schemed us, really, just to be honest.”
Perhaps a bigger factor in the performance was how lifeless the Bears looked on defense, at least in the first half.
“Yeah, it was 13-nothing. It was flat,” Brisker said. “I think about it, it was flat.
“We (were) at home, playing against Detroit. I would’ve thought, you know, they beat us 52-21 last time, obviously Ben (Johnson) just came from there, I would think we would be a lot more motivated. But we came off flat.”
When asked about the defense’s urgency heading into the playoffs, particularly given poor showings against the Lions and the 49ers in the last two weeks, Jarrett balked at the question.
“I don’t think we have a lack of urgency,” he said. “I think we’ve got guys who (are) hungry, want to work their tail off every day and expect greatness.
“Obviously, (it) wasn’t in the plan to lose the last two. We came up short. But, like we always have, I believe we’re going to respond.”
The defense did respond in the second half.
The Lions were limited to 196 yards and Byard intercepted quarterback Jared Goff on third-and-20.
Byard, who was selected to his third Pro Bowl, finished the regular season as the league’s interceptions leader with his seventh pick.
“Just a tipped pass,” Byard said. “I think (Jaquan) Brisker got his hand on it. Just made a play on the ball.
“Obviously, (I) was hoping that that was going to be the one. The offense is going to drive down, we (were) going to score. Definitely had confidence in that.”
However, on the ensuing offensive drive, the Bears were undermined by Caleb Williams’ intentional grounding penalty and went three-and-out.
The Lions drove 39 yards on six plays for Bates’ game-winning field goal from 42 yards out.
The Lions went 1-for-4 in the red zone, with Gibbs’ 15-yard touchdown catch accounting for the Lions’ only touchdown.
“I felt like the red-zone defense was pretty good today,” Brisker said. “Almost had a couple of turnovers in the red. That’s a good offense, stopping them down there in the red.
“Obviously kept us in the game to the end and we just didn’t get it done.”
Jarrett said the team will spend the week evaluating the film, “and be real. Rip the Band-Aid off and get better. The only way you can move forward is to face the truth and do what we need to do so we don’t make the same mistakes.”
Byard said the intensity has to be better for the wild-card game against the Packers.
“We know it’s a competitive game, two teams that know each other very well. Two really good play callers in the game with Ben and Matt LaFleur. It’s going to be a tough game.
“We’ve got to play better football, and that’s really the bottom line.”