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The Bears Den: September 30, 2013 - Week 4 news and notes

By Spongie

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Bears' rally falls short, drop to 3-1 - Larry Mayer: The Bears were cruising along on a nice Sunday drive when all four of their wheels simultaneously came off suddenly and without warning at Ford Field. Four Bears turnovers costly.

Game notes - Larry Mayer: Reggie Bush gashes Bears defense in first half; Trestman impressed with how team responded; more notes from the game.

Follow WCG on Twitter; like us on Facebook (& click on 'Subscribed to'). Click for Chicago Bears Tickets. Check out David "OSS" Taylor's CheekyMonkeyArt prints and t-shirts. Hi-res version of today's pic.

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Chicago Bears 32. Detroit Lions 40

Reggie Bush pushes Lions past Bears in NFC North battle - Inlcudes NFL.com [Video] highlights. Box score & game stats.

Game notes - The Tribune's Three Bears, and game graphics (drive chart, Cutler watch, more game statistics).

Larry Mayer's Game Blog - The Bears Senior Writer with insights and analysis live from Ford Field.

Game report - Patrick Finley: Bears buried by Lions’ big 2nd quarter, suffer first loss.

Lions attack 'new' offense, exploit Cutler tendencies - Moon Mullin: The game got away from more than just Cutler, however, and that was the particularly disturbing element in this setback.

Rapid Reaction - Michael C. Wright with a few thoughts on the 40-32 loss. Locker Room Buzz. Jeff Dickerson: Five things we learned.

Rapid Reaction - Dan Durkin: After three efficient performances, Cutler took a step back in the Bears' first loss of the 2013 season.

Reggie Bush shreds Bears for 112 yards in a half - Michael C. Wright: Knowing the capabilities of Reggie Bush meant little in terms of stopping him for the Bears on Sunday at Ford Field.

Reggie Bush burns Bears underneath - Brad Biggs: Calvin Johnson held in check, but Reggie Bush has big day against Bears. [Video] PostGame Live - Reggie Bush's dominance.

Mistakes pile up in Bears' 1st loss - Dan Wiederer: Jay Cutler's 4 turnovers, Reggie Bush's big game help derail Bears' perfect September.

View from the enemy - Chris McCosky: It took receiver Kris Durham to grasp and hang on to an onside kick with 43 seconds left to secure this win. But there was a stretch in the second quarter when everything seemed to come together for the Lions

Game notes - Seth Gruden: Podlesh disappointed in his performance; Tillman playing hurt; facing the Wide 9.

Four Downs - Dan Wiederer: Bears sputter on 3rd down. two near-turnovers by defense proved significant, more notes.

Game notes - Rich Campbell: Reggie Bush takes advantage of focus on Megatron; Bears' third down woes; more game notes.

[Video] View from the Moon - Moon Mullin, Jen Lada break down Bears loss in Detroit. 'Total team loss'.

[Video] PostGame Live - Reaction to the Bears' loss.

[Video] Game review - Tom Waddle breaks down Lions-Bears.

Injury news - Michael C. Wright: Paea suffers minor turf toe injury, but isn’t expected to miss time.

[Video] Highlights, photos from ChicagoBears.com ... The Herald ...Tribune ... Sun-Times.

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Cutler

Lions defense throws ay Cutler off his game - Josh Katzenstein: Jay Cutler looked like a different player to start the 2013 season, but his error-prone play reared its head Sunday.

Lions set up of Cutler works to perfection - Scott Krinch: What had been working was the ability to get to ball out quickly. It didn't happen on Sunday because the Lions made sure they weren't going to get beat by the Bears in that area.

Doubt meter on Cutler spikes after rocky performance - Rick Telander: On a day when the Bears defense let speedy Reggie Bush run free for 173 rushing and receiving yards, Cutler had already dug too deep a hole for all.

Cutler shoulders blame for picks - Bob LeGere: QB lived up to his "Mr. Fourth Quarter" nickname but puts blame on himself for three picks in preceding quarters.

After carrying Bears, Cutler costs them this time - David Haugh: QB proved how prone he remains to feast-or-famine performances by leaving the Bears starving for consistency.

Cutler gets it: No excuses, loss was on him - Adam Hoge: The defense only allowed three points in the second half, but the game was out of reach because of Cutler’s last two turnovers.

Cutler accepts blame as Bears suffer first loss - Jon Greenberg: As the Bears proved the first three weeks, the line between 3-1 and 1-3 is very thin. So, pin this loss on Cutler. He can take it. And know that it's up to him to make sure it doesn't happen again. He can take that, too.

[Video] PostGame Live: 15 on 6 - Jim Miller reviews Cutler's day.

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Reaction

Bears are living between awesome and awful - Rick Morrissey: The Bears aren’t as good as they seemed to be in the first three weeks of the season, and not as bad as they were in the second quarter Sunday, when they gave up 27 points.

Ugly loss tough to digest - Dan Bernstein: While so many of us deal with the heartburn brought on by that performance, Trestman will try to keep the team cool in preparation for the next opponent.

Bears make a mess in Detroit - Steve Rosenbloom: OK, so it wasn't going to be easy for the Bears this season, but yeesh, did it have to be this awful?

Did Bears have to expose so many flaws in one game? - Mike Imrem: The Bears’ work in progress devolved into a work in regress Sunday afternoon at Detroit. That was going to happen sometime, but did the Bears have to expose so many flaws in one game?

Four minutes of bad too much for Bears to overcome - Bob LeGere: A horrendous stretch of less than four minutes in the second quarter Sunday at Ford Field was too much for the Bears to overcome.

Lions bring out worst in Bears, Cutler - Barry Rozner: Marc Trestman is a realist and these are the growing pains that were expected when the season began.

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Offense, Defense

Lions turn Bears’ third-down attack into a problem area - Mark Potash: Against the Lions, the Bears were 0-for-12 until Cutler’s too-little-too-late 10-yard TD on third-and-7 with 43 seconds to play.

Alshon Jeffery is a bright light on gloomy day for Bears - Adam L. Jahns: 2nd year wideout caught five passes for 107 yards and a TD, and broke off a 27-yard run on an end-around. Dan Wiederer: Provided something to build on, even with a frustrating loss.

Long tackles one big assignment - Bob LeGere: Kyle Long had his hands full with Lions Pro Bowl DT Ndamukong Suh during Detroit's 40-32 victory Sunday. Rich Campbell: Emerged with successes and failures to build upon.

Long, Mills dealing with adversity for the first time - Jen Lada: Moments after the 40-32 result went final, the two rookies answered media inquiries with an accountability and a steadfast determination to improve we've come to expect from the Trestman-led troops. Moon Mullin: Rough day for rookie O-linemen.

Bears’ defense has holes — and Reggie Bush found them - Adam L. Jahns: Bush’s success only shed more light on some problems. He’s just the latest player to have a big game against the Bears, following A.J. Green and Antonio Brown.

Cracks showing in Bears defense - Brad Biggs: Bears are not tackling well, they're still not getting to the QB and it's hard to imagine they're scaring opponents with their typically vaunted defense.

Missed tackles doom Bears D to another points fest - Moon Mullin: Dating back to the Seattle game last season, the Bears have held only one (Arizona) of their last nine opponents below 21 points. For a defense that has 17 as its target, the situation qualifies as a problem.

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Grades

[Video] PostGame Live - The panel's Players of the game vs. Lions.

Game grades - Will Brinson gives the Bears a 'C'. Far from the worst grade handed out for this week's games.

Game grades - Mike Spellman's glass is half empty.

Moon Mullin grades the coaching and as much of the team as was up when the Den went live, unit-by-unit: QB - RB - WR/TE - OL.

More from Windy City Gridiron:

Next up: New Orleans.

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