Bears picked clean in 16-7 loss

Jumping the gun on Halloween, the Bears came to Soldier Field disguised as a playoff-caliber football team in their orange jerseys.But their costumes didn't fool anyone. Not the sellout crowd that booed lustily throughout, or the Detroit Lions, who slapped them around for the second time in four weeks, this time topping them 16-7 in a ghoulish display at Soldier Field.The loss left the defending NFC champions for dead at 3-5, 2#189; games behind the Lions (5-2). And they'll be at least that far behind the Green Bay Packers (5-1), who play tonight in Denver."I know a lot of people are going to say it's Detroit, but they're a good team," said Bears defensive end Alex Brown. "They play well. They've played well enough to beat us twice."We're going to have to start saying it's not the old Detroit, I guess. Or we're just not the Bears that we were last year or have been the past couple years."The Bears weren't awful on defense Sunday, at least not by this year's standards, and their play might have been enough to get them to the .500 mark and back in postseason consideration.But the offense, which produced a season-low 255 total yards, was the worst it has been all season, which is saying a lot.Quarterback Brian Griese, who for the previous three weeks helped stabilize an inconsistent attack, was intercepted four times, giving him 10 in four starts and a whopping 7 in two games against the Lions. More Coverage Bears foes denying further Hester heroics Say what, Brian? " style="font-weight:bold;font-size:12px;">Benson running nowhere fast, or long, these days Imrem: It's easy to see why Bears are struggling LeGere: Bears defense, offense different from last Lions meetingGriese had no trouble finding receivers in the end zone, but 3 of those 4 passes were caught by guys in Lions jerseys."It's about turning the football over," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We have to have better ball security. It's simple: We can't turn the football over."So if that means not throwing in those spots trying to make the big play, dumping it off (instead), that's a base part of what we do, too."This wasn't a loss at home against a team with a reputation as road warriors. Quite the contrary. The Lions had lost 44 of their previous 51 road games before victimizing the Bears and sending them into their bye week searching for answers."We don't feel like we're a 3-5 team, but we are," Brown said. "We're 3-5, and it's hard to believe because we have so much talent and so many guys that can play, so many guys from last year's team. But it's not last year. Last year's not going to help us."It's not that the Bears didn't have their share of opportunities to get to 4-4 and right back in the playoff race.Even though the offense had produced just 126 total yards at the midway point of the third quarter, the Bears trailed only 13-0 after the Lions' Jason Hanson uncharacteristically missed wide right on a 29-yard chip shot. It was just his second miss from inside 30 yards in 13 years.Devin Hester's brilliance and the Lions' stupidity on their next possession finally gave the Bears' offense an opportunity even they couldn't screw up.Even though Hester had 314 return yards against Detroit just weeks earlier -- the second most in NFL history -- they punted the ball to him, and in no time it was a 13-7 game.Hester brought the punt back 39 yards to the Lions' 26, setting up Griese's perfectly placed 20-yard TD pass to rookie tight end Greg Olsen late in the third quarter.But the Lions responded with a 67-yard drive that completed the scoring on Hanson's 20-yard field goal on the third play of the fourth quarter.Three plays later, Griese threw his second interception, and the Bears went three-and-out on their next series.The defense provided one more scoring opportunity when Adam Archuleta forced a Kevin Jones fumble that Hunter Hillenmeyer recovered at the Bears' 39.Six plays later, however, Griese was intercepted for the third time and for the second with Mark Bradley as the intended receiver in the end zone.On the play, Bradley was blanketed by cornerback Keith Smith, who knocked the pass into the hands of teammate Gerald Alexander.On the first end-zone attempt to Bradley, a communication problem wound up with double coverage and Kenoy Kennedy getting the easy interception."We had a little trouble communicating the hand signal out to Mark, and I think the safety (Kennedy) had a pretty good idea the second time I signaled," Griese said. "At the snap of the ball, (Kennedy) ran to the sideline and made that play. That was on me."A bigger problem might have been the decision to throw risky passes to a player with 2 receptions for 26 yards all season, including a goose egg Sunday."There are situations in games where you have 1-on-1 coverage and you try to take a shot to give your guy a chance to make the play." Griese said. "Two of those interceptions were that instance."Several dropped passes (2 each by Bernard Berrian and Cedric Benson) and a running game that was its usual pathetic self (63 yards on 20 carries) didn't help.With a bye on Sunday, the Bears will have two weeks to assess blame for a dismal first half of the season.It might not be enough time. 512462Detroit Lions running back Kevin Jones was the leading rusher Sunday at Soldier Field.John Starks | Staff Photographer 512349Devin Hester runs back a punt.John Starks | Staff Photographer