Allen Park — While the stakes weren’t nearly as high as the instant classic between the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings, two rebuilding teams played an entertaining game with plenty of exciting moments in Chicago this past weekend. And despite entering the fourth quarter facing a typical insurmountable 14-point deficit, the Detroit Lions managed to rally past the Chicago Bears, earning the franchise’s first win on the road in nearly two years.
Obviously, it wasn’t easy. And it wasn’t easy because Bears quarterback Justin Fields has gone from one of the league’s least effective players at the position to one of its most dynamic after the team made schematic adjustments that allowed the quarterback to rely more on his running ability.
In the past four weeks, Fields has averaged 117 rushing yards per game, setting the single-game record for a quarterback with 178 yards against Miami a week before putting up 147 against the Lions on Sunday. And while the passing component of his dual-threat abilities continues to lag behind, his ability to extend and create with his feet has been enough that the Bears are averaging 31 points during this four-game stretch.
The fact the Lions surrendered 147 rushing yards to Fields, despite dedicating the week’s plan to slowing him, is less than ideal. But when the team needed stops in the fourth quarter, they (mostly) got them. For this week’s film review, we’re going to look at what went wrong early with the execution and how the defense was able to adjust in time to open the door for a successful rally.
What went wrong early?
The week leading into the game, Detroit’s scout team was led by backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld. And even though he was praised for the work he put in, a guy who ran a 4.93 40-yard dash is going to have a tough time simulating Fields, who ran a 4.46.
That showed up immediately, when Lions defensive end Julian Okwara surfed too far inside defending a zone-read run and the quarterback kept it and beat the defender to the perimeter, gaining 28 yards.
Whether it was by design or scrambling when his receiving options were covered, Fields’ speed was problematic in the early going. After the zone-read keep, he added another 19 yards on two carries on the opening drive, rolling out of play-action and outrunning defensive end Josh Paschal and linebacker Alex Anzalone to the perimeter for 13 before running a designed draw for another 6 yards in the red zone.
Fields’ elusiveness didn’t only show up as a runner, but also as a passer. On the first snap of the second possession, the quarterback was able to dodge Paschal — after the defender beat his block up the middle — step up in the collapsed pocket and deliver an accurate ball on the move across the middle to Dante Pettis, who adjusted his route and came back to the quarterback.
Two plays later, Fields rolled out from a nickel blitz and with three defenders quickly closing in on him, was able to demonstrate touch, flipping it over the head of Paschal to a tight end open in the flat for a 9-yard gain.
Chicago closed the first half with its longest drive of the day, marching 85 yards on 15 plays. It started with Fields converting a third-and-2 with a designed sprint to the right side out of shotgun and defensive backs Kerby Joseph and Will Harris lost contain.
And Fields came up big on third down again near midfield when he avoided a sack by spinning away from the pass rush of John Cominsky, rolled out, reset his feet and found receiver Byron Pringle in a soft spot of Detroit’s zone coverage for a 12-yard gain.
A few plays later, on another PA rollout, linebacker Derrick Barnes got sucked toward the line to defend a potential scramble, giving space for receiver Darrell Mooney to run free on a crossing route. Field did a nice job not rushing the throw and delivered an accurate ball to set the Bears up first-and-goal at the 4.
Chicago punched it into the end zone three plays later, with Fields avoiding yet another sack. First, the Lions deserve credit for outstanding coverage to create the opportunity. Cornerback Jerry Jacobs and safety DeShon Elliott expertly navigated a difficult assignment stitch, forcing the QB to double-clutch and pull it down, giving Aidan Hutchinson time to beat his block and funnel Fields back inside.
There, the quarterback was met by Isaiah Buggs, but somehow managed to escape the defensive tackle’s grasp and reverse field, where Hutchinson was now out of position after over-pursuing. That was all the room Fields needed to turn the corner and get across the goal line for the score.
The Bears returned to the end zone with their first drive of the third quarter, with the biggest play being a rare, standard drop-back and throw for Fields against Detroit’s Tampa-2 coverage. The three-man rush got zero pressure, giving the quarterback plenty of time to scan the field. And the zone broke down when both Jeff Okudah and Harris drifted to an underneath option, allowing Mooney to find space between the layers for a 22-yard gain.
Fields capped the series with a 6-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet on a play-action rollout. It wasn’t a difficult play, given safety Kerby Joseph slipped in coverage, leaving Kmet open for the short throw.
The Bears extended their lead to 14 on the next possession, putting the entire Lions defense in a blender on a second-and-1 snap from midfield. Lining up with three tight ends tight to the formation, with two off-right tackle, the Lions countered the run look with nine defenders in or just outside the box.
Chicago got Detroit’s defense moving right with both a fake motion handoff and standard play-action going that same direction, with Fields keeping it and rolling left. Two tight ends shot into the secondary with one running a deep out and the other running a post. Joseph, a deep safety responsible for at least half the field, inexplicably drove down on the out, allowing Kmet to run free on the post pattern, where Fields found him for the long touchdown.
The Bears added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter, with Fields rushing for the longest score by a quarterback in Bears history. Running another zone-read, he kept the ball and ran around the right edge of the formation, following a pulling tight end.
Detroit had three defensive backs in position to help make a stop, but each ended up out of position. Safety C.J. Moore got sucked inside and pinned there by a down block, cornerback Mike Hughes got overly focused on the pulling tight end, abandoning his gap assignment, and Joseph, the deep safety, reacted too late in support, taking a bad angle and whiffing as the last line of defense. The result — a 67-yard score.
What went right late?
For all those early struggles, the Lions had flashes of successful execution throughout the day. On the opening drive, linebacker Jarrad Davis did a nice job of taking away Fields’ primary read on a rollout before driving down on the QB and batting the throw down.
And Okwara, Paschal and Buggs worked in conjunction on a pass rush to keep Fields contained to the pocket on Chicago’s second series, resulting in a sack that ultimately led to a punt.
But Detroit’s defense really picked it up down the stretch, outside of the aforementioned 67-yard Fields touchdown run, and it started with a three-and-out to open the fourth quarter.
That series began with another zone-read keeper for Fields. The quarterback held on to the ball when Hutchinson crashed hard off the edge, but the play design had Anzalone loop outside to cover the outside gap. That pushed Fields wide, where he was driven out of bounds for no gain.
And Anzalone combined with Buggs to limit a stretch-zone handoff on second down to a 5-yard gain.
Facing third-and-5, the Bears put Fields in the shotgun for a traditional drop-back. The Lions countered with a Cover-1 robber and had the first and second reads smothered, allowing Hutchinson to get pressure from his inside alignment. That flushed Fields to his left, where Cominsky was in position to prevent a scramble. Instead, the QB launched a deep throw to Kmet, running a wheel, covered by Anzalone.
The throw was actually pretty good, given the pressure, and it was a desired man-to-man matchup for the Bears, but the tight end wasn’t able to come down with it, despite the linebacker face-guarding and never turning to locate the ball.
Chicago’s next drive was even less effective. Detroit shut down a first-down run, after Harris played his run gap aggressively, an understated defensive adjustment by the nickel corner, forcing running back Khalil Herbert outside, where he was dropped after gaining just 2 yards.
On second down, Herbert got the edge for 19 yards after a pair of defensive backs took poor angles, but it was called back after Hutchinson was held, setting up second-and-18.
Chicago tried to get a chunk back, running a play they had success with earlier in the game — a tight-end screen — but an awareness adjustment by Hutchinson wrecked the play. Recognizing the release at the line of scrimmage, the rookie defender dropped back into the passing lane, forcing the quarterback to double-clutch the throw. That gave time for Buggs to get pressure and those two things together led to an errant overthrow that was intercepted by Okudah and returned for a touchdown.
That tied the game, and Fields untied it with his long run, all leading to the Lions jumping ahead with a 91-yard drive and taking advantage of the Bears missing an extra point after their score. That meant, for the second consecutive week, the defense would have a chance to seal a victory for the Lions.
Things started out well enough with Detroit, getting the opponent into third down, but Joseph was flagged for holding away from the play while trying to stay with his man on a scramble drill.
But the Bears quickly found themselves behind the chains after Okudah unintentionally collided with Kmet across the middle, causing a throwaway on first down and Hutchinson sacked Fields on second down with a well-executed speed-to-power rush.
After a quick, check-down throw to the running back left Chicago with a fourth-and-8, Fields took a shotgun snap against another Cover-1 robber look. Moore, as the underneath robber, helped bracket and take away Fields’ primary read, Pringle, running a crosser at the sticks.
Anzalone, joining the pass rush when his coverage assignment stayed in to help block, was the first Lions defender to impact the pocket, forcing Fields to dodge a sack attempt. The QB then impressively ran through tackle attempts by both Okwara and Anzalone a second time, resetting his feet and looking downfield only to find everything was still covered.
Finally, Okwara recovered to finish the job, sacking the QB and securing the comeback victory.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers