Thanksgiving Postgame: Bears defense rises to the occasion, stuffing runs and choking the turkey hole to 23-16 win over Lions

The Bears should be in good shape to survive the winter after the feline feast they had this morning. The Lions, on the other hand, seemed ready to discard this season faster than leftover thanksgiving salad.

Lions give up the only good thing about their franchise

Of course I’m referring to the drawing of a Lion on their helmets. If the Bears could learn one thing from the Lions, it would be to take advantage of having a beautiful large and powerful furry beast as a mascot and show it off on your helmet or at least somewhere on your uniforms. Today, the Lions gave up that aesthetic advantage in favor of hideous mono-silver snooze-caps.

The quick passing game can only take you so far

The Bears pass rush didn’t show up much in the box score, but it did show up by dictating the Lions offensive plan. When you can’t block the Bears pass rush, getting the ball out quick is your best option. Fortunately, it’s only effective if you execute consistently with minimal errors. The Lions came pretty close to achieving that, with an impressive completion percentage from Stafford and a good job pushing for yards after catch from Golladay and less-so Riddick.

CD4 looking like he’s trying to Chase Daniel Marino’s legacy

Or at least Daniel Radcliffe’s—that guy could serve up some quidditch. Heavily-forced pun aside, Chase Daniel looked pretty good today. The offense definitely struggled to move the ball more than the last time they faced the Lions, but Chase was accurate, protected the ball, and hit Allen Robinson with a perfect deep ball on the Bears first scoring drive. Today, Daniel tripled his career regular season touchdown total.

Just saying, if he was my CD4 count, I wouldn’t even be worried about Pneumocystis pneumonia.

Daniels Daniel collision

The first sack against Chase Daniel came after Bears rookie guard James Daniels ran into him while chasing after a block. It killed the drive, but wasn’t it fun that their names were so similar?

Akiem Hicks is really hitting his stride

And hitting anyone who comes near him in the backfield. That Bear mashes offensive lineman like they were butter-soaked potatoes. Coincidentally, watching him play is a low-calorie opportunity to experience a similar pleasure to eating butter-soaked potatoes without the guilt. Obviously, I’ll be doing both today.

Taquon Mizzell gets some production

I’ve previously complained that “Smoke” got thrown into the fire before he was ready, but he’s starting to contribute to the offense and I won’t complain if he becomes another solid weapon for this versatile offense.

Tarik Cohen gets Darius Slay’s attention

I don’t know if the Lions could do anything that would complement the Bears dynamic running back more than putting their best player on him. This opened things up for the Bears other weapons, but CD4 wasn’t able to take full advantage.

DeShawn Shead executes a perfect Peanut punch

I can’t even get mad at Trey Burton. That form was reminiscent of Agent Tillman himself. He probably just got lucky, but it sure looked impressive.

I never thought I’d hear an announcer say “Bellamy finally being targeted”

But Jim Nantz never fails to surprise. Bellamy is a better receiver than most Bears fans give him credit for, and he’s pretty much cured himself of the dropsies, but he’s at best the 6th most important passing target on this team—behind Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, Burton, and Cohen. #Bearsthingsthatarebetterthisyearthanlast

When you have a Lion by the leg, don’t let go

I’m talking to you Adrian Amos.

Anthony Miller carries the torch of Bears named Miller who can pass on trick plays

With Zach Miller’s injury, I assumed the Bears would have to settle with touchdown throwing trick-play quarterbacks Trey Burton and Tarik Cohen. I can breathe easier knowing the Bears have a solid third option in AM17.

Roquan Smith starting to stack up sacks

Inside linebackers have always produced on blitzes in Vic Fangio’s scheme, but Roquan’s speed gives him an extra edge. Smith is sitting pretty at 4 sacks in 9 starts. I won’t be surprised if he hits 8 in his first full season (2019). Add this sack production to the 40 tackles in his last 4 games and he is building a case for defensive rookie of the year (re)consideration.

Eddie Jackson is going to run out of touchdown celebration ideas

And I’m going to run out of things to say about this blossoming young Bear scoring defensive touchdowns.

Winning a road game with a backup quarterback is an impressive feat. Doing it against a division rival makes it extra sweet. Today, the Bears got to have their pumpkin pie and eat it too. Moving to 8 and 3 with a 3 and 1 division record is just the whipped cream on top.

I should take this opportunity to tell all of our readers thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and jokes with you! I certainly enjoy writing for this fan community and am grateful I get to do so every week.

Happy Thanksgiving Bears fans. Bear down and chow down.