CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- Nothing comes easily for a team like the Bears, not even against an opponent that can’t get out of its own way like the Lions.
Not Sunday.
Not this entire season, which still threatens to be a long one in Chicago.
Nonetheless, the Bears survived a fourth quarter more frenzied than necessary at Soldier Field and hung on to beat a winless Lions team that was familiarly clueless. And make no mistake, after a humiliating clunker in Cleveland against the Browns, the Bears and beleaguered coach Matt Nagy needed this 24-14 victory in the worst way.
Not even the big news last week about the franchise likely moving home games northwest to Arlington Heights quelled local concerns about the direction of the football team under Nagy, who surrendered offensive play-calling duties before the game and sounded like a mentally exhausted coach feeling the pressure after it.
But, at least for the present, the Bears temporarily changed the subject around Halas Hall by offering a tantalizing glimpse of the future.
Some things you can’t coach. Some talents you can’t factor into any game plan. Some players possess something special you just can’t deny. That’s the best way to sum up what happened to the Bears offense against the Lions in the most winnable game on their schedule until the next time these two teams play Thanksgiving Day.
Justin Fields happened, and nothing mattered for the Bears more than that progress. Not offensive coordinator Bill Lazor calling the plays instead of Nagy after a historically bad showing. Not how successfully the Bears ran the ball with David Montgomery, who had 106 yards rushing and two touchdowns before leaving with a knee injury. Not even how stingy defense played for three quarters before a forgettable fourth quarter.
When a franchise quarterback like Fields takes a small step forward like the one he took against the Lions, it feels like a quantum leap. When Fields looks steady seven days after looking so shaky, it turns the volume down on criticism of the Bears and changes the context of every overheated observation about their rookie quarterback. Fields played well enough to earn his third straight start next Sunday against the Raiders regardless of veteran Andy Dalton’s health, as definitive as Nagy currently needs to be. Surely, it helped that the Lions didn’t have Myles Garrett chasing Fields around the way the Browns did, but give No. 1 credit for maintaining his confidence after a challenging week and showing enough command to complete 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards, an interception and an 82.7 passer rating.
“Just my mindset was different," Fields said. “My goal was just to play better than last weekend.’’
To aid that improvement, Nagy shelved his ego and asked Lazor to call plays after plenty of introspection and conversation. Without going into detail, Nagy described a hellish week in which he got to see “the true colors of people," from a team meeting that sounded more like an intervention to social media campaigns for his firing. It took such an obvious toll that Nagy, known for his affability, vowed not to elaborate about his decision to shift play-calling duties to Lazor after the postgame press conference Sunday.
“Bill did a great job,’’ Nagy said. “With all due respect, this will be the last time I talk about it."
Rest assured, it won’t be the last time everyone else does. However difficult it was for Nagy to relinquish the part of his job he believes he does best, his hard choice was the right one. Firing Nagy the play-caller made Nagy the head coach look like a better leader by putting the team first. The Bears ran 39 times for 188 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and establishing that ground game opened up the play-action passing game for Fields – as well as slowed down the Lions' pass rush. Not insignificantly, Fields praised something else he noted about Lazor, who called plays from the coaching box and spoke to his quarterback.
“His voice is always calm," Fields said.
Lazor’s calming impact on the entire offense showed early and often.
After winning the toss and electing to receive – an aggressive endorsement of Fields – the Bears staged a smart, safe opening drive against an overmatched Lions defense. They came out for the first snap in a three-tight end formation, a subtle-but-significant statement that the Bears heard all the clamoring to keep it simple. As far as sending a message, the opening 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took 6 minutes, 11 seconds sent a stronger and clearer message than any convoluted Nagy press conference.
On the second scoring drive that opened up a 14-0 lead, the Bears offense offered the best version of itself. The most memorable play came on a beautiful 64-yard completion from Fields to Darnell Mooney, the kind of soaring spiral so perfectly placed and artfully executed that NFL Films one day will replay it in slow motion with background music. After showcasing his big arm, Fields displayed his 4.4 speed by beating Lions safety Will Harris so Harris couldn’t get the angle on an 11-yard scramble on third-and-4. Finally, for punctuation, Montgomery carried a pile into the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown run that thrilled an appreciative crowd of 61,468.
This was the Bears offense everyone had hoped to see, the blend of explosiveness and efficiency missing from the first three games. This was Fields reacting more than thinking, letting his considerable natural ability take over. This was a proud quarterback used to success responding to adversity.
“I saw Russell Wilson posted a tweet this past week saying, ‘I love adversity,'" Fields said postgame. “And I truly do love that because it just brings a whole different person out of me."
Fields brought a different element of his game too. In one of the most encouraging signs of progress, Fields completed passes from the pocket. Two of the biggest came on the same series, the third-quarter dagger of a drive that ended with Damien Williams’ four-yard touchdown run. On a 30-yard strike to Allen Robinson, Fields dropped deep, planted and hit Robinson in stride. On a 32-yard beauty to Mooney, who enjoyed a huge day with five catches for 125 yards, Fields demonstrated accuracy that’s an underrated part of his game. The ball landed only where Mooney could catch it along the Bears sideline, just out of the grasp of Lions cornerback Bobby Price.
"He put the biscuit in the basket," Fox announcer Gus Johnson gushed in the booth.
Fields’ only interception came with 1:01 left in the first half. Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin deflected a quick slant pass intended for Mooney, and cornerback Amani Oruwariye picked it off at the Lions’ 39 before the Bears defense held. A reminder that Fields still was a rookie came during a fourth-quarter strip-sack-fumble in which he recovered his own fumble for the second time in three games – a hidden talent no quarterback wants to use.
“All we wanted to see was exactly what we saw today, which was growth," Nagy said of Fields.
Good thing for the Bears that “Lionsing” remains a verb found in every NFL glossary, even under first-year coach Dan Campbell, who has his team playing harder – but not necessarily smarter.
Another example came with 9 minutes, 35 seconds left in the second quarter with the Bears leading 14-0, which was way too early for desperation. Yet on fourth-and-goal from the 5, the Lions passed up a chip-shot field goal to get on the board and failed to score when Bears linebacker Alec Ogletree deflected quarterback Jared Goff’s pass. In the first quarter, Lions center Frank Ragnow’s shotgun snap deflected off Goff at the Bears’ 8-yard line, and defensive lineman Bilal Nichols recovered to thwart that threat, so you get the idea of how much the opposition collaborated too. Four times, the Lions came away without points after driving inside the Bears’ 10.
The Lions finally avoided the shutout with 3:19 left in the third quarter when Goff faked the run well enough to freeze safety Deon Bush and find Kalif Raymond out of the backfield for a four-yard touchdown pass. A Bears coverage breakdown with 11:17 left that led to 25-yard touchdown pass to Raymond supplied more drama than necessary.
Overall, the Bears defense welcomed back nose tackle Eddie Goldman but played without defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, who went into the locker room after the first series with a groin injury. Once again, the Bears’ deepest position group persevered. Robert Quinn continued to be the most productive Bears defensive linemen through four games with a strip-sack fumble forced. Khalil Mack wreaked havoc playing through a foot injury that caused him to miss two days of practice and sacked Goff. Trevis Gipson disrupted with a sack and two tackles for loss. Rookie seventh-rounder Khyiris Tonga again made his presence felt. Nichols recovered a fumble. Ogletree flew around to make 12 tackles, two more than fellow linebacker Roquan Smith, who added a sack.
Sean Desai’s defense dominated often enough to ease the burden on Fields and the offense. And Lazor’s offense executed a game plan that helped lighten the load on the defense.
That’s complementary football from Nagy’s Bears worth complimenting, even against the Lions.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on Twitter @DavidHaugh.