With the quarterback in his crosshairs and the game on the line, Za'Darius Smith licked his chops and helped seal the Lions' first win on Thanksgiving in eight years. The Bears cooked themselves one play later, but it was Smith's sack of Caleb Williams with 30 seconds to play that pushed Chicago out of obvious field goal range and into an obvious blunder.
Smith was unblocked by the left tackle -- "he was supposed to block me, but he came off the ball late" -- and did what a three-time Pro Bowler does with a clear path to the quarterback.
"Man, you know what, at the beginning I missed him twice," Smith said after the Lions' 23-20 win. "And I told myself, man, if I get another opportunity, I’m not gonna miss him this time."
Smith paused and said, "So I was able to come up with how many (sacks)? 1.5? Hey, that’s something. I was still able to come back and make those tackles, so I learned from my mistakes."
That something is exactly why the Lions acquired Smith from the Browns at the trade deadline. They've only suffered more injuries on the defensive line since, including two more Thursday to Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike. It caught up to the Lions in the second half, when they surrendered three touchdowns after going straight 12 quarters keeping the end zone clean.
Smith, DJ Reader and Alim McNeill held their ground in the trenches, with help from Al-Quadin Muhammad and a rotating cast of linebackers. Smith's first sack came earlier on the game-deciding drive when he and Ezekiel Turner took down Williams out of the two-minute warning for a seven-yard loss. The 10-year vet went down with a cramp on the next play, but confirmed afterward that he's fine.
While it was Smith's third game with the Lions, it felt like his coming-out party in Detroit. As the Bears rallied from a 16-0 halftime deficit and continued to creep closer, Smith kept pumping up the crowd before every snap. The fans, who had been lulled into thinking it was another feast at Ford Field, roared when Smith got home on the penultimate play of the game. Now they could enjoy their dinner.
"Yeah, man, I needed that. The more the crowd’s into it, the more I can go -- even when I get tired at times. You know me at 32, man, my wind," he smiled. But (the coaches) constantly wanted me out there to affect the quarterback. When the crowd is pumped up, man, it gets me going. Gives me more energy. Yeah, more fuel."
Paschal and Onwuzurike could both miss time, said Dan Campbell. With Aidan Hutchinson, Derrick Barnes, Marcus Davenport and Alex Anzalone already down, the Lions are missing basically an entire front seven. Smith has already "added a lot" to the team, said Jared Goff, "an energy and an understanding of where we’re at in our season and what we’re looking for." He'll need to add even more in the weeks ahead, especially as the schedule stiffens.
The Packers, one of Smith's former teams, are next. He grinned a bit like the Grinch and said, "This is a team that I’m familiar with. So man, I just can’t wait."
"He brings that energy every day," said Goff, who threw two touchdowns to Sam LaPorta on a rather quiet afternoon for the offense. "He’s obviously such a great player on the field physically, but I think emotionally and his daily juice brings something to that defense. It’s fun.”
When it became clear the Browns were going to sell this season, Smith was lobbying for the team to trade him to the Lions. He wanted a chance to chase a Super Bowl ring, the most glaring blank on his NFL resume. His arrival has been a boon to a defense that ranks second in the league in scoring but is plunging into the depth chart, especially up front.
Smith's 'juice' also comes in the form of leadership. When Muhammad learned this week that he would be active for the first time in three games, Smith told him, "'Give ‘em a reason to not sit you back down.' And as you can see, he did it today." Muhammad had a sack and a pass breakup in coverage of Keenan Allen on the Bears' final drive.
"Young, hungry football team, man," said Smith. "Obviously throughout the years they haven’t been that good, but now it’s totally different around here. Young guys wanting to learn more, getting extra work after practice. You don’t get that everywhere you go with the young guys. Everybody’s keying in and buying in, and I’m so excited about it. And we got coaches that played in the league. Man, everybody wants to know what it takes to win and as you can see, we’re 11-1 today."
Williams and the Bears pushed the Lions to the brink in the second half. Smith was impressed with the rookie quarterback, commending him for his ability to elude pressure and read a defense. He said the "future is bright" for the first overall pick. With a smile and a keen sense of timing, Smith added, "Excited for him to see what he’s gonna bring — but also to get the L’s when he plays us."
"We were able to get, what, five sacks today? Can’t get no better than that, man," he said. "A great, happy Thanksgiving for everybody."