Instant Analysis of Bears’ 24-20 win over Lions

The Bears overcame a 10-point deficit and notched their 2nd straight victory with a 24-20 victory over the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

The Chicago Bears celebrated Thanksgiving with a 24-20 victory over the Detroit Lions. It was anything but a pretty win, but the win kept Chicago’s slim playoff hopes alive at 6-6.

The Bears overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat the Lions for a fourth consecutive time.

Chicago’s defense got off to a shaky start against third-string quarterback David Blough, who started the game with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay. The Lions followed up that drive with a 10-play 78-yard scoring drive that culminated in a Blough to Marvin Jones Jr. and a 14-7 lead.

After jumping out to a 17-7 lead in the first half, Chicago’s offense battled back to cut the lead to 17-10 at halftime after a 30-yard Eddy Pineiro field goal.

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky continued his hot streak against the Lions with perhaps his best performance of the season. He completed 29-of-38 passes for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interceptions good enough for a 118.1 passer rating. Trubisky had just two incompletions in the

With the Bears thin at tight end, Jesper Horsted came up big for the Bears with an 18-yard touchdown reception that tied the game at 17-17 in the third quarter.

Chicago took its second lead of the game in the fourth quarter with a nine-play 90-yard drive that culminated in a Trubisky to David Montgomery three-yard touchdown pass.

With the Bears leading 24-20 with less than two minutes remaining, the Lions were threatening to score the go-ahead touchdown. The defense came up big, including a Roquan Smith sack for a 13-yard loss on third-and-nine.

But it was safety Eddie Jackson who intercepted Blough on a Hail Mary on fourth-and-22 with :29 left in the game that sealed the victory.

The Bears have a week before their next Thursday matchup, a primetime game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Instant analysis of the Packers’ 37-8 loss to the 49ers in Week 12

Breaking down the Packers’ miserable night in San Francisco that ended with a 37-8 win for the 49ers.

The Green Bay Packers got thoroughly dominated for the second time in a month on the West Coast, losing 37-8 to the San Francisco 49ers in a nationally televised Sunday night game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

It was over when …

… tight end George Kittle ran away from Kevin King and rumbled in from 61 yards out off a brilliantly designed play-action fake, giving the 49ers a 30-8 lead and destroying any hopes the Packers had of getting back into the game to start the second half.

Game balls

Offense: No game ball awarded.
OLB Za’Darius Smith: The defensive captain delivered 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hits. Both of his sacks ended drives.
Special teams: No game ball awarded.

Key Stat

3.2: Yards averaged per attempt by the Packers passing offense. They averaged a full yard more rushing (4.2). Overall, the offense averaged only 5.2 yards per completion.

Quick takes

– The Packers got dominated at the line of scrimmage on offense. It started early, got worse when Bryan Bulaga went out and never really stopped. Everything about the blowout starts there.

– Aaron Rodgers attempted 33 passes on 41 dropbacks. He produced 66 net yards passing, took five sacks, lost a fumble and scrambled three times for 13 yards. This was one of the worst ever performances in the long career of the future Hall of Famer.

– The Packers have fatal flaws. There is no second option in the passing game and they can’t cover the middle of the field. No magic cure is coming for either ailment. The 49ers and Chargers exposed each flaw mercilessly. Future opponents, if capable, will do the same. And there are plenty that can do it in the NFC field.

– Teams that can rush the passer with four players and cover effectively and consistently with seven are going to give the Packers a lot of problems. Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers haven’t found an answer.

– I can’t shake the feeling that the 2019 Packers are just the 2015 Packers. They don’t scare anyone in the passing game and good offenses chew up their defense.

– The 49ers didn’t do anything special on offense, but they ran the ball well enough and found explosive plays in the middle of the field. Jimmy Garoppolo hit touchdown passes of 42 and 61 yards. Once again, the Packers defense got beat by the big play. Another fatal flaw.

– The Packers keep hitting new lows on special teams. JK Scott had a miserable night, and the punt return group lost more yardage. There is no bottom for Shawn Mennenga’s unit.

– The receivers behind Davante Adams did next to nothing. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, Allen Lazard and Jake Kumerow combined for four catches on 10 targets for 23 total yards. The Packers not adding a legitimate No. 2 receiver at the deadline might have sunk their season.

– The Packers were 1-for-15 on third down. The one conversion came on the final drive.

– Things look really bad for the Packers right now, but they have two extremely winnable games coming up. Matt LaFleur’s team really needs to be 10-3 going into the final three games against the NFC North. It’s possible. This is still a playoff team, but they have a lot to figure out over the final month.

– Up next: The Packers go back on the road, this time to the East Coast for a game against the two-win New York Giants.

Instant analysis of Bears’ 19-14 win over Giants

Like most of the Chicago Bears’ wins this year, Week 12 wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done against an inferior opponent. The Bears got back into the win column on Sunday, beating the New York Giants 19-14 to improve to 5-6 on the year. After a …

Like most of the Chicago Bears’ wins this year, Week 12 wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done against an inferior opponent.

The Bears got back into the win column on Sunday, beating the New York Giants 19-14 to improve to 5-6 on the year.

After a slow first half that only produced three points, the Bears came out firing the second half, scoring two touchdowns and holding the Giants to seven points.

Mitchell Trubisky completed 25 of 41 passes for 278 yards, his highest total of the season, for one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for a score as well.

His touchdown through the air was a 32-yard dart to Allen Robinson in the third quarter, who led all players with 131 receiving yards on six catches.

On defense, Khalil Mack returned to his All-Pro form, strip-sacking Giants QB Daniel Jones to set up Trubisky’s rushing touchdown to put them up 19-7.

Jones did lead a late rally, scoring on a heave to WR Golden Tate on a 4th and 18 to pull the Giants within one score, but that’s as close as they would get. The Giants were also burned by two missed field goals by kicker Aldrick Rosas.

The Bears continue to play well enough to beat bad opponents on their schedule. While Trubisky flashed with crisp throws to Robinson and Anthony Miller, he also threw a pair of back-breaking interceptions that were simply bad decisions.

The defense shines when they play with the lead, but once again gives up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. As a whole, the team simply plays too inconsistently and struggles to put together a complete game.

A short week awaits them as they travel to Detroit (3-7-1) for a second-straight Thanksgiving matchup as they attempt to keep their extremely slim playoff hopes alive.

Ravens demolish Texans 41-7: Instant analysis

The Baltimore Ravens absolutely demolished yet another playoff contender, taking down the Houston Texans by a final score of 41-7.

The Baltimore Ravens demolished yet another playoff contender, taking down the Houston Texans 41-7 in Week 11.

Though the Ravens and Texans got off to a slow start, Baltimore heated up quickly and put Houston in their rearview mirror before halftime. With Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and the offense applying pressure on the scoreboard, the defense applied pressure to Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, forcing bad throws and mistakes.

Take a look down below at my instant analysis of each scoring drive to see how the game flowed through four quarters.

First quarter:

Second quarter:

Ravens 7 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: We finally got a typical Ravens drive after a first quarter full of mistakes. Baltimore got tight ends Hayden Hurst and Nick Boyle, as well as fullback Patrick Ricard involved in the passing attack. Jackson adds 12 yards on the ground before wide receiver Seth Roberts highpoints a pass in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown.

Ravens 14 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: The Ravens are in a rhythm now. This drive got started with a 17-yard pass to Marquise Brown before Jackson picked up another first down with a 12-yard run. Running back Gus Edwards added a big run, finding a crease on the left side and outracing defenders for 26 yards into the red zone. A perfectly-placed 18-yard touchdown throw to tight end Mark Andrews add to the lead.

Third quarter:

Ravens 21 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: Getting the ball to open the second half, Baltimore marched down the field. A huge pass interference call on a deep throw to Brown got a big chunk of yards. Willie Snead got a high pass for a big first down before Ingram gets a short dump-off pass he took 25 yards untouched for a touchdown.

Ravens 24 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: Another game and another highlight-reel worthy run by Jackson. He showed power and agility, breaking away from and juking out defenders on a 39-yard scamper. Jackson was contained far better in the red zone, forcing a 34-yard field goal.

Ravens 27 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: Pressure got to Watson, forcing him to scramble and throw across his body. Right into a pile of Ravens players with linebacker Josh Bynes coming down with it. The offense is now playing conservatively, letting Tucker kick a 46-yard field goal to extend their lead and chew up clock.

Fourth quarter:

Ravens 34 – Texans 0

Drive analysis: Baltimore’s defense got the job done, stopping Houston on fourth down to get the ball back and keep the shutout going. The offense was content grinding down the clock until Andrews took a pass over the middle 51 yards into the Texans’ red zone. Two plays later and Jackson found Ingram on a 12-yard touchdown pass.

Ravens 34 – Texans 7

Drive analysis: With the game over and the Ravens sitting on the deep pass, running back Carlos Hyde broke open up the middle and raced defenders into the end zone on a 41-yard run.

Ravens 41 – Texans 7

Drive analysis: The Ravens are just trying to milk the clock and end this game with Robert Griffin III in now. But Edwards apparently wanted to get in on the fun as well, breaking off a 63-yard touchdown run. He made a great jump cut on the left side and it turned into a track meet as Edwards glided down the field untouched.

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