Penalty or Not, Lions Lack of Discipline Yet Another Reason Why They Don’t Win

Kudos to Brian Van Ochten writing for the Grand Rapids Press at mlive.com for nailing the real issue behind Ndamukong Suh’s unnecessary roughness penalty:

“In the fourth quarter, referee Ed Hochuli didn’t hesitate to toss his flag upon seeing Lions superstar rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh take what appeared to him to be a cheap shot to the back of the neck or the helmet of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler as both players approached the sideline.

“It resulted in a personal foul that put the Bears in a first-and-goal situation.”

“It happened in the season opener at Chicago, right?

“The ruling that stripped Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson of an apparent go-ahead touchdown in the final moments of that contest because he failed to control the football all the way to the ground, was just the beginning of it, right? It was such a rotten call that even Jim Joyce could smell it.”

“It happened on Suh’s phantom horse-collar tackle against the Dallas Cowboys, right?

“It happened on tight end Brandon Pettigrew’s offensive pass-interference call against the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving Day, right?”

“‘I don’t care if it’s a penalty or not,’ Suh insisted.

“The problem is he needs to learn to care about that stuff.”

“‘What for?,’ Suh responded when asked if he should adjust his game due to the officiating. ‘There’s no reason to.'”

“It’s up to the Lions to become a much more disciplined team if they hope to get through the painful process of learning to finish games.”

Dead on.  If the Lions are ever going to win games, they have to be disciplined or they are going to continue to find ways to lose games.  The difference between the Bears and the Lions was never so evident than it was on the two controversial penalties the Lions incurred against them.

Sure, Johnson “looked” like he caught the game winning touchdown pass against the Bears in week one.  But calls to change the rule that cost him that catch buried the lead.  He dropped the ball at the end of the play when every receiver in the NFL knows very well that you have to get up off the ground with it in your hand to erase all doubt.  Otherwise, you open yourself up to the call that was made.

As I said in my game comments Sunday, whether you thought the call against Suh was a good one or not, the fact remains that if he thinks even for an instant and shoves Cutler with his forearm just six inches lower, there’s no question of a penalty on the play.  GM Jerry Angelo said it best:

“The officials made the right call. It’s unfortunate. I understand the heat of the moment, but our players know better.”

Guys like Brian Urlacher might not like it but the Bears do know better.  Defensive players aren’t allowed to run around and be neanderthals anymore.  They have to think about where they are hitting players and lower their target in the same way that offensive blockers have to stop before blocking a man in the back.  Its a tough thing to do in the heat of the moment but players on good teams do it.

The message is clear.  If you can’t play under control and with discipline, you aren’t going to be playing at all.  You learn or you lose.

Bears Ability to Stop the Run Huge in Lions Victory

That may sound like a rather obvious and mundane headline.  But its not.  Here’s why via Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune:

“The Bears played their nickel defense on 72 percent of the Lions’ snaps.

“The Bears used nickel in part because the Lions played a lot of three wide receivers. But they also used nickel at times against personnel groupings that do not necessarily call for nickel defenses. They played nickel on first down 11 times, and they were in nickel for 13 running plays.”

Pompei goes on to point out that the Bears may have preferred nickel with strong side linebacker Nick Roach sidelined for most of the game.

The reason this is significant?  I can remember situations less than a year ago when the Bears couldn’t even stop the run with the standard front seven.  They were constantly bringing an extra safety into the box, especially when current linebackers coach Bob Babich was the coordinator.

Now the Bears are stopping the run with just two linebackers in the game.  It’s a measure of just how much better this defense is this year over past years.

Bears Road Game Against the Lions Had Home Game Feel

From The Detroit News:

“Chants of ‘Let’s go, Bears,’ rang throughout the day, occasionally getting shouted out by Lions fans. At several points Bears defensive players were imploring the crowd to make some noise.

“‘Chicago is a close town, only four hours away,’ (Drew) Stanton said. ‘So it’s not surprising. We anticipated that it might be an issue, so we were prepared to go to a silent count if we needed to.'”

I have never in my life heard of a team needing to prepare to go to a silent count at home.  Apparently the Bears are still traveling well this year.

Vikings Peaking at Wrong Time for Bears

Though the Bears have generally met teams at the right times this year, their luck may run out against the Vikings on the road in two weeks.  The Vikings played like dogs early in the season, most notably losing twice to the Green Bay Packers, who are on the Bears tail in the division race.  But since Vikings Interim head coach Leslie Frazier took over, the Vikings have played well.  They beat the Bills convincingly yesterday despite losing quarterback Brett Favre early to a shoulder injury.

This may be a piece of bad luck for a Bears team that has been particularly lucky this year.  There are no easy wins in the NFL but the indications are that the Vikings game in Minnesota will be a much tougher win than Green Bay’s was.  Here’s hoping they will be up to the challenge coming off of a game next week against a New England Patriots team which has to be considered elite.

Earl Bennett Tries to be “the Quarterback’s Friend”

Fred Mitchell at the Chicago Tribune got this interesting quote from wide receiver Earl Bennett after Sunday’s game:

“I try to be the quarterback’s friend and he just kept throwing me the ball. I just want to make plays. The coaches kept calling great plays and I was in position to make them, whether it’s me, Devin (Hester) or Johnny (Knox).”

I don’t think that Bennett means that he’s trying to be quarterback Jay Cutler’s friend (though he undoubtedly is).  I think what he means is that he’s always trying to get into Cutler’s head to be where he’s expected to be and to make the plays he’s expected to make.

Bennett doesn’t drop balls and because of his size, he’s tough to bring down.  He is especially reliable in a group of receivers that has turned out to be generally reliable this year.  He makes it easy for Cutler to look for him when he needs a play.

Anyone can drink a beer with Cutler.  But when it comes to the field of play, this is what Cutler calls a friend.

Bears Contain Lion’s Playmakers in Win

Its hard to point to one but Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune pointed out what I thought was probably (collectively) the most important reason why the Bears beat the Lions yesterday in hisFour Downs feature:

“The Bears were resilient on defense. Charles Tillman blew outside contain on Jahvid Best’s 45-yard run in the first half but manned up on Calvin Johnson on the outside. The Lions receiver made just two receptions for 20 yards against Tillman.”

“[The Bears] held Ndamukong Suh in check, focusing on him with Kyle Vanden Bosch out. Suh, who should win defensive rookie of the year, had four tackles and one pass breakup.”

Even though Johnson did have a touchdown reception at the end of the first half, I’d say the Bears did a pretty good job of containing the Lions two best playmakers for most of the game.  If you do that, you will usually win.

Smith Motivates Bears at Halftime the Way a Good Head Coach Should

Mike Mulligan at the Chicago Sun-Times addresses head coach Lovie Smith‘s half-time motivational technique:

“Bears coach Lovie Smith isn’t one to get caught up in extremes of emotion, but that didn’t stop him from directing some well-chosen words at his defense at halftime of the team’s 24-20 victory Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The Bears trailed 17-14 at the time, having just given up a two-play, 91-yard touchdown drive. After watching defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli lay into the troops on the sideline, Smith gave his own motivational speech at halftime.”

“‘Everybody doesn’t curse and do all that stuff,’ [D.J.] Moore said ‘You can see on someone’s face how mad they are or whatever. You can feel the words for yourself.’

Nobody seemed to remember exactly what Smith said, but he got his message across after a sloppy first half in which the Bears’ defense missed countless tackles and allowed the Lions a whopping 253 yards.”

Smith has come under constant criticism for his (apparently) calm demeanor as Bears head coach.  They think every coach should be Mike Ditka.  But consider this.  How long did Ditka last before he lost the players?  Like everyone else I loved Mike Singletary’s now famous rant after the 49ers loss to the Seahawks last year.  Singletary’s an emotional motivator.  But where are the 49ers now?  Rumor has it the players have already stopped listening.

The bottom line is that Smith, like all the rest of us, needs to pick his spots in order to be effective.  He does a good job of that.