Bears run (and pass) all over Lions in 48-24 win

Like an old car, it took the Bears awhile to get cranked up Sunday, especially on defense.

After allowing a Lions team that snapped a 19-game losing streak last week to pile up 273 yards of total offense in a 21-21 first half, the Bears' defense roared back.

It allowed minus-3 yards and no first downs in the third quarter, while Johnny Knox returned the second-half kickoff 102 yards for score and Robbie Gould hit 2 field goals, including a 52-yarder, his first of 50 or longer in the NFL.

The Bears' domination continued in the fourth quarter until Garrett Wolfe's 2-yard run capped the scoring in a 48-24 rout that elevated the Bears to 3-1 and dropped Detroit to 1-3.

"I guess we've got to get punched in the face a couple times to realize we're in a fight," said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, whose 2½ sacks led the way for a defense that nailed rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford five times. "The first half, I don't know. It takes us a minute."

Actually 30 minutes. Slow starts and strong finishes are becoming a trend with the 2009 Bears.

They've trailed at some point in all four games and in the fourth quarter in three of them. They've been outscored 31-7 in the first quarter but have a 68-27 scoring edge after halftime.

"Defensively we did not start the way we wanted to," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "You have to give them a lot of credit. Detroit did a good job, especially Stafford throwing to (Calvin) Johnson.

"We weren't able to stop that the first half. In the second half the guys did a lot better job, made a couple adjustments, did a lot better job with it."

In the first half the Bears didn't provide cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman with safety help over the top against the 6-foot-5, 236-pound Johnson. He caught 5 passes for 119 yards, most of them on Bowman, including a 45-yarder to start the game and help the Lions take a 7-0 lead.

Johnson then ran a reverse for 11 yards and caught a 24-yard pass to set up Stafford's 14-yard TD pass to tight end Will Heller, giving Detroit a 14-7 lead with 5:03 still left in the first quarter.

At halftime the Bears changed tactics against Johnson. Seven-year veteran Tillman, the team's best corner, followed Johnson regardless of what side he lined up on, and safeties Danieal Manning, Al Afalava and Kevin Payne cheated to that side of the field.

"We matched up a little bit more," Smith said. "We put Charles to his side a little bit more. Besides that, the guys played our defense a little better. Johnson's one of the best receivers in the game."

That's why almost every other team usually devotes a double-team to him.

"We came in at halftime, and coach Smith made an audible," Tillman said. "He told me I would follow Calvin. That was it."

In the second half Johnson caught just 3 passes for 14 yards. It also helped that the defense did a better job of getting after Stafford, racking up 4 of its 5 sacks after the break and knocking him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter with a dislocated knee cap on an Ogunleye sack.

"I think my job was easy," Tillman said, exaggerating. "The D-line had the hard job. They made my job easy because they had a tremendous pass rush. I'm nothing without them. They did a great job."

It just took then awhile to get warmed up.

"We have to make sure we're getting after the quarterback because otherwise we leave our secondary out to dry," said Alex Brown, who shared a sack with Ogunleye. "(Stafford) threw the ball for a bunch of yards (221) in that first half. We understand how to finish; we have to learn how to start."

But that formula worked out much better than the one the Lions used. Their second half didn't meet with the approval of first-year head coach Jim Schwartz.

"One of the worst halves of football I've ever been associated with," he said. "We were poor on special teams, we were poor on offense, we were poor on defense, we were outcoached, we were outplayed (and) their trainers were probably better than ours in the second half."

The Bears' defense did make some plays in the first half, the biggest of which was Tommie Harris' interception and 6-yard return to the Lions' 8-yard line.

Stafford tried to force a pass with defensive end Mark Anderson draped all over him, and the throw went directly to Harris, which set up Jay Cutler's 1-yard TD pass to Greg Olsen that gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 21-14.

Cutler finished with a 100.4 passer rating (18 of 28 for 141 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions), his third straight game over 100.

Sunday's rating came despite wide receivers Devin Hester leaving with a shoulder injury early in the second quarter and Johnny Knox being sidelined with a lower-leg injury in the third quarter.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Gallery</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=326415">Week 4: Bears vs. Lions </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>