Chicago — Justin Rogers grades the Detroit Lions’ performance following their 31-30 win over the Chicago Bears.
Quarterbacks
Jared Goff fought through some early struggles with the blitz, which included a pair of batted passes and eating an unnecessary sack in the red zone, playing efficiently while leading a trio of lengthy scoring drives. None was more impressive than the 91-yard march late in the fourth quarter that gave the Lions the lead. Facing third-and-eight, he fired a perfect pass to Tom Kennedy, hitting the receiver in stride across the middle for a 44-yard gain that led to the go-ahead touchdown two snaps later.
Goff’s biggest mistake, an interception where he left it within reach of an underneath defender, was erased by a penalty away from the play. The QB finished 19-of-26 for 236 and a 113.1 passer rating. Grade: B+
Running backs
Nothing came easy for Jamaal Williams, but he finished the game hitting some high notes. He had a powerful 13-yard run to start the game-winning drive and finished it with a 1-yard touchdown, his ninth of the season. Fittingly, Williams also had a seven-yard first down run that gave the Lions a first down and allowed Goff to take a knee to end the contest.
D’Andre Swift’s role remained muted. He and Justin Jackson each received six carries, with Swift struggling to find breathing room on five of them. But the sixth, he found a hole on the right side and burst through for a 9-yard score, kickstarting Detroit’s comeback from 14 down in the fourth quarter. Grade: B
Wide receivers/tight ends
Amon-Ra St. Brown had his best showing since Week 2, hauling in a season-high 10 passes for 119 yards. He was critical to Detroit’s early success, playing a big role on the team’s first two scoring drives, catching six passes during those series, including a trio of drive-extenders on third downs.
With Josh Reynolds sidelined by a back injury, Kalif Raymond and Kennedy also stepped up, coming up with third-down grabs that reset the chains on separate touchdown drives. The tight ends were less involved in the passing game, but Brock Wright came up with a score, leaking through traffic on a delayed crossing pattern, similar to Shane Zylstra’s score a week earlier against Green Bay. Grade: B+
Offensive line
Detroit’s blocking wasn’t up to the standard we’ve come to expect, particularly when it came to getting push with the ground game. The Bears racked up eight tackles for a loss, with many of those defenders breaking through the middle of the Lions’ line to make those plays.
Goff was sacked twice, but he evaded a couple others and was under duress more than he needed to be. Grade: C-
Defensive line
One of the underrated aspects of the victory was the individual adjustments made by Detroit’s defensive front.
For example, Julian Okwara got caught cheating too far inside on a zone-read run early in the game, resulting in quarterback Justin Fields gaining 28 yards around the edge. But it was Okwara who stayed with it and made the game-sealing sack on fourth down.
Similarly, Fields escaped the grasp of Isaiah Buggs and Aidan Hutchinson at points early in the matchup, but both rebounded to make plays later, with Hutchinson coming up with a late sack and Buggs staying in front of Fields on a pressure, forcing a bad throw that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Grade: C+
Linebackers
Alex Anzalone paced the Lions with 10 tackles and also had a pass breakup deep down the field on a wheel route that forced a punt. The rest of the linebacker room was relatively quiet with Jarrad Davis, Chris Board and Derrick Barnes each netting two stops, although Davis had a nice PBU on the first drive of the game that helped keep Chicago out of the end zone, forcing them to settle for a short field goal. Grade: C
Secondary
It was a rough day for rookie Kerby Joseph, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by Fields’ running ability. In the third quarter, the safety got caught looking into the backfield on play-action and allowed tight end Cole Kmet to race by him for what would end up being a 50-yard touchdown. Joseph also whiffed on Fields in the fourth quarter that went for a 67-yard score. On that long run, nickel cornerback Mike Hughes got fixated by the motioning tight end, giving away the edge to the quarterback on the zone-read keep.
On the flip side, Jeff Okudah bounced back after a rough performance last week, breaking up one pass and intercepting another, which he returned 20 yards to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Grade: D+
Special teams
It wasn’t a great day for Detroit’s special teams. Michael Badgley didn’t miss any of his kicks, but that should be expected give the four extra points were his longest efforts. Punter Jack Fox, meanwhile, had a couple of subpar boots, including one that was caused by an errant snap. That fed into decent returns for the Bears and left him with a net average just over 35 yards.
Speaking of kick coverage, the Lions also gave up a long kickoff return, although the defense was able to bail them out. The Lions also had a longer kickoff return, but couldn’t do anything with Justin Jackson’s 39-yarder since it came in the closing seconds of the first half. Grade: D
Coaching
Lions coach Dan Campbell hit the right notes with his fourth-down decisions, settling for a field goal and taking the points on the team’s first drive, but going for it on fourth-and-goal later in the first half. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson dialed up a good play there, netting a touchdown.
Detroit’s defensive game plan to slow Fields was sound, but the execution was obviously inconsistent. They made some minor tweaks to their approach as the contest progressed, but largely stuck to the design of the plan to keep Fields contained, which paid off in the end. Grade: B
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers