October 28, 2007
Bears limp into bye week after disappointing loss
By Larry Mayer
CHICAGO – Needing one of their best performances of the season in a key NFC North clash Sunday at Soldier Field, the up and down Bears delivered one of their worst.
The result was a deflating 16-7 loss to the surprising Detroit Lions that dropped the wildly inconsistent defending NFC champions to a disappointing 3-5 heading into their bye week.
“We had a lot at stake on this football game,” said coach Lovie Smith, whose team lost the turnover battle 4-1 and was outrushed 119-63. “I thought we would play better, but we didn’t.”
Offensively, Brian Griese threw four interceptions—three in the end zone—Cedric Benson was limited to 50 yards on 13 carries and Bears receivers dropped at least four catchable passes.
The Lions scored a touchdown and two field goals on four second-quarter possessions against a Bears defense that permitted 365 total yards and generated just one turnover after not forcing any in its previous two games against the Vikings and Eagles.
“We’re about taking the ball away and lately we haven’t been able to get any turnovers to really talk about,” Smith said. “On the other side of the ball, it’s about turning the football over. We have to have better ball security. We didn’t do those two things today.”
In getting swept by the Lions for just the second time in the last 10 years, the Bears fell to three games behind Green Bay (5-1) and two and a half in back of Detroit (4-2) in the NFC North.
“It hurts a whole lot,” said right tackle Fred Miller. “Five losses, that really hurts, especially coming from this team. Basically we have the same team that we had last year, and for some reason or another, we’re productive, and that really hurts.”
“We don’t feel like we’re a 3-5 team, but we are,” said defensive end Alex Brown. “We’re 3-5 and it’s hard to believe because we have so much talent and so many guys that can play, so many guys from last year’s team. But it’s not last year. Last year’s not going to help us. We’ve got to figure out something. We’ve got a bye week, so we’ll see what happens.”
Falling to 0-3 following victories, the Bears have not won back-to-back games all season.
“That’s been the story of the first half of the season,” said tight end Desmond Clark. “We just can’t get on a streak and win a couple and kind of get things going in the right direction. It’s something that we definitely have to do in the second half.”
Griese completed 22 of 40 passes for 208 yards and 1 TD, but his four interceptions tied a career-high and gave him seven picks in two games against Detroit this season.
For the Lions, Jon Kitna completed 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards and a 91.1 passer rating, Kevin Jones rushed for 105 yards on 23 carries and Roy Williams caught eight passes for 77 yards.
FULL STORY
Bears limp into bye week after disappointing loss - Chicago Bears
Bears limp into bye week after disappointing loss
Bears limp into bye week after disappointing loss
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