In a day in which rookie Matt Forte should have had his best day as a pro, it was QB Kyle Orton who did. The Bears went into Detroit tied for first place in the NFC North and came out in first place, thanks to the win and next week's opponent Atlanta, who beat the Green Bay Packers.
OFFENSE
Quarterback:
Orton looked sharped and made throws all over the field. He finished with 334 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Orton still overthrew some throws down field, but he looked good. He moved well and took care of the ball. There was only one throw that looked to be in danger of being picked off and on that played his man was knocked off the route.
Orton consistenly made big plays. He had throws that went for 52, 34, 32 and 30 yards. He spread the ball around and used his receivers more than in any other game.
Running Back:
Perhaps cause for concern? Detroit has the leagues worst run defense and Forte tallied only 36 yards on 15 carries with a 2.4 average. Yes, he still made some big plays and Orton was finding it through the air, but his numbers should have been better. Whether Detroit just decided to stop the run and let Orton gash them or our line was breaking down, I don't know, but Forte should have easily had 100 yards this game. He did have a rushing TD as well as a receivng one to go along with 4 receptions for 25 yards.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:
With Brandon Lloyd out there was some questions as to who would step and as it turns out, almost everybody did. Rashied Davis led the Bears in receiving with 6 for 97 yards. In a day of bests Devin Hester also had his best day receiving with 5 for 66 and 1 TD off of an awesome move. Marty Booker had 2 catches for 37 yards and had the catch of the day on a falling one haded grab that Coach Smith had to challenge to get to go through.
Desmond Clark continues to be the Bears starting line up, but again it was Greg Olsen who was excelling. He had 3 catches for 87 yards including a 52 yarder in the first half.
DEFENSE
The Bears defense was dominante all game. They had the Lions confused, they gave Kitna nowhere to throw except the short slant patterns and the Bears were all over them when they did get the ball. Kitna ended the game with 74 yards. He was replaced by Dan Orlovsky who threw for 97 yards and 1 INT.
The longest Lions play was for 25 yards. In what was expected to be a place of weakness CBs Peanut Tillman and Corey Graham handled the Lions to big receivers all day. Roy Williams had 7 catches for 97 yards, but they all came on short passes and 35 of it on their last meaningful drive of the game. Calving Johnson was completley taken out of the game catchign only 2 for 16 yards.
The Bears had 2 fumble recoveries, 1 INT and 1 sack.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Bears didn't need too much special teams this game. Detroit had 8 punts and only 4 were returnable. Hester totaled 62 return yards between punts and kickoffs. He did continue to make some questionable calls and try to hard. He lost the Bears about 6 yards on 1 return when he tried to back up. He also fumbled the ball leading to the Lions only score.
Robbie Gould was 2/2 on FGs and Maynard 5 punts averaging 33 yards, but that number is a bit off since he was punting into short fields.