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“Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.” ~ Unknown
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Johnson shines in Detroit's 34-17 win over Chicago.
By NOAH TRISTER
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte runs through the Detroit Lions defense. (Photo/ChicagoBears.com)
After a week of questions about his limited production of late, Calvin Johnson lifted Detroit's offense with an emphatic reminder that he's still one of the game's most dynamic players.
Johnson caught 11 passes for 146 yards with a pair of first-half touchdowns, and the Lions boosted their postseason hopes with a 34-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday. Johnson had been held under 60 yards in two of three games since returning from an ankle injury, and there were rumblings that the 29-year-old receiver was slowing down, but he quieted a lot of those concerns with perhaps his best game of the season.
''Guys still believe in what we got going here,'' Johnson said. ''We had a good week of practice - it was a very short week, but we were very detailed in what we did on the field, coaches taking care of us. It's our part to come out here and do our job on the field.''
After losing at Arizona and New England and falling out of first place in the NFC North, the Lions (8-4) spotted Chicago a 14-3 first-quarter lead before rallying with relative ease in the second. Detroit finished with a season-high 474 yards in its highest-scoring game since a 35-14 victory over the New York Giants in its opener.
Joique Bell ran for two touchdowns for the Lions, and Jay Cutler threw two TD passes for Chicago (5-7). Detroit's Matthew Stafford went 34 of 45 for 390 yards with the two touchdown passes to Johnson.
The Lions have now won back-to-back games on Thanksgiving after losing their previous nine. They beat Green Bay 40-10 last year.
That victory over the Packers was Detroit's only win in its final seven games last season as the Lions frittered away a playoff spot. They are again in mix for the postseason this year, and Thursday's game was their first of three in a row at home - all against teams with losing records.
''Every single week there's a new challenge. We have a new one next week,'' Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. ''The minute you get comfortable at any stage in our league you're going to have problems.''
Detroit came in with the league's top-ranked run defense, and Chicago barely even tried to test it. Matt Forte was a non-factor on the ground, finishing with 6 yards on five carries. Cutler went 31 of 48 for 280 yards with two fourth-quarter interceptions.
Chicago's imbalanced game plan came only a few days after New England relied heavily on the pass in its victory over the Lions last weekend.
''I think they look at the numbers and make an assessment of what they think they can do,'' Caldwell said. ''Not everybody looks at it the same way, but the last couple weeks it's been that way.''
The Bears opened the scoring on Cutler's 10-yard scoring pass to Alshon Jeffery, and they scored again after Jared Allen sacked Stafford, forced a fumble and recovered it at the Detroit 5. Cutler's 6-yard scoring pass to Jeffery made it 14-3 with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Stafford, however, was brilliant in the second. Johnson made a leaping catch for a 25-yard touchdown, holding on despite a hit from defensive back Kyle Fuller. That was the first time Detroit had reached the end zone since Nov. 9 against Miami - and a sign that the Lions were shaking off some of the problems with their passing game.
''I don't know that they really did anything that we didn't expect, although they didn't have the drops that we've seen on film, or make the other mistakes that shut down offenses,'' Bears coach Marc Trestman said. ''We were the ones that had those, especially penalties that took us out of good positions.''
Bell put the Lions ahead with a 1-yard scoring run on fourth down - leaping toward the goal line and extending the ball just far enough for a touchdown. Stafford's 6-yard touchdown pass to Johnson made it 24-14 with 24 seconds left in the half.
Stafford went 22 of 26 for 275 yards in the first half, and Johnson set a record as the fastest to 10,000 yards receiving, surpassing that milestone in the second quarter of his 115th game.
Bell's 1-yard run in the fourth was the only touchdown of the second half.
NOTES: Chicago lost S Chris Conte early on because of an eye injury. ... Detroit C Dominic Raiola became the first Lions player to start 200 games. ... Lions WR Corey Fuller caught a 21-yard pass in the first half, and his brother Kyle - the Chicago CB - came over and playfully knocked the ball out of his hands after the play.
Underachieving Bears face character questions after loss to Lions.
By John Mullin
Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall is stopped by the Detroit Lions defense. (Photo/ChicagoBears.com)
Coach Marc Trestman has talked about his team’s resiliency, coming back from 10-0 deficits against the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Detroit Lions (8-4) are not the Vikings or the Bucs, and the Bears (5-7) took one step closer to the cliff that falls away from the playoffs in large part because they were decidedly not resilient, in this case when they were ahead, not behind, in a game.
The result was a 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions that returned the season to a character test for the Bears.
“It’s real frustrating because of the talent we have on this team,” said running back Matt Forte. “We’re underachieving right now and some guys have to do some soul-searching on the rest of the season and how they want to play these games.”
Quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns, but also two interceptions, raised a similar question some weeks ago and answered it again Thursday: “I think [with] the guys we have and character and integrity of the guys, I don’t think anybody’s going to quit. I think the coaches won’t let us; they’re not going to quit on us. I think the leaders of the team will make sure that we finish it right.”
But therein lies perhaps the core problem, perhaps several.
It’s semantics perhaps, but Cutler said that he “doesn’t think” anyone will quit. It was not a no-quit edict or declaration.
More concerning is the issue that if the Bears cannot muster the stuff to finish a game right, how can they expect to finish a sliding season right?
Big picture issues
The Bears allowed 30 or more points for the fifth time in 12 games. This time it to was the Lions, standing 28th in points before Sunday, averaging 17.9 coming in and being without a touchdown in the two previous games.
Their own offense failed to score 30 for the 12th time this year and 19th in the last 21 games, despite being a team constructed for scoring and topping 30 in four of the first seven Trestman’s first year.
Telling and disturbing at the same time, of the last four touchdowns scored by the offense (two vs. Tampa Bay, two at Detroit), three have come on possessions starting at the opponents’ 13-, 15- and 5-yard lines.
Since the opening possession of the second half against the Buccaneers, the Bears had 15 possessions with only two drives longer than 38 yards.
And this with the season effectively on the line every week.
Telling tipping point
The Bears came to a tipping point in the game, perhaps in their season, in the second quarter, when they were leading 14-10. And they were found wanting. They cracked.
That tipping point came when center Roberto Garza, having a solid game directing the middle of protections against the Lions, was called for holding against Ndamukong Suh. The penalty wiped out a 22-yard completion to Martellus Bennett to the Detroit 20, moved the ball back 10 yards and the Bears were forced to punt. From that point the Lions drove 86 yards for a score to take a 17-14 lead that was never really threatened.
Garza was then flagged for holding again on the Bears’ next possession, creating a second-and-21 from inside the Chicago 10. The Bears managed no first downs on the remainder of that drive and on the three-and-out that followed; a field goal on their first possession of the third quarter; and then a three-and-out after taking over at the Chicago 39 with a chance at a tying score.
After the first Garza penalty, the Lions got busy piling up 150 yards and scoring 14 points on the next two possessions as the Bears cracked on both offense and defense.
“We came out with energy,” said rookie safety Brock Vereen. “At a certain point that got deflated and we weren’t able to recover from that.”
Vereen could’ve been speaking of the 2014 season, not simply Thursday’s game.
“We ain’t going down without a fight,” said defensive end Willie Young. “You can count on that.”
What the Bears can count on, however, isn’t really very clear at this point.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks-Ducks Preview.
By JACK CASSIDY (STATS Writer)
The annual circus trip has been a success so far for the Chicago Blackhawks, though their next stop on the 10-day trek will offer a more significant challenge.
The Blackhawks will try to improve to 4-1 on the six-game swing when they visit the Western Conference-leading Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
With the circus in town every year at this time, the Blackhawks and their fellow United Center tenants, the Chicago Bulls, wind up on the road for nearly two weeks.
It isn't the most ideal situation for any club trying to keep pace in a competitive division, but Chicago (13-8-1) has been rolling since the trip began Nov. 20.
The Blackhawks had beaten Calgary and Edmonton before a 3-2 victory at Colorado on Wednesday. Jonathan Toews, Andrew Sharp and Brian Bickell scored, while Patrick Kane also pitched in with his first three-assist night since Dec. 8, 2013.
Two of the three goals came on the power play, making it six straight games in which Chicago has scored with the advantage after netting two in its previous five.
"We've been pleased and happy with it," coach Joel Quenneville said of his power-play unit, which ranks among league leaders with 19 goals. "Two big goals got the momentum back on our side. What a hockey game that was, anybody's hockey game."
The Blackhawks' lone loss on the swing came at Vancouver on Sunday.
The circus trip has proved successful for them in years past. They went 6-1 last season to improve to 22-11-4 since Toews and Kane entered the NHL in 2007.
"That was a really big win for us," said Corey Crawford, who made 27 saves for his 10th win. "After a tough loss in Vancouver, it was nice to get back on track.
"Hard fought win for us."
Crawford has started each of Chicago's last 12 games, going 7-5 with a 2.09 goals-against average. He is 7-4-1 against Anaheim in his career, but was not in net for their most recent meeting - a 1-0 road victory for the Ducks on Oct. 28.
Anaheim (14-5-5) and Montreal are tied for the league lead with 33 points after the Ducks picked up at least one in 11 of their past 12 contests.
They took care of Calgary 3-2 on Tuesday for their third straight win. Corey Perry got his 12th goal, while Matt Beleskey added his third in four games to go with an assist.
"I guess when you're hot, you're hot," Beleskey said.
Frederik Andersen has also enjoyed a recent hot spell, stopping 58 of 61 shots in his last two starts. Over his previous six, Andersen has helped Anaheim earn eight points through three one-goal games, two shootouts and just one regulation loss.
"The snowball starts getting bigger and bigger," said coach Bruce Boudreau to Anaheim's official site. "You start learning how to win a little bit better. Every game we play is close, so I was hoping we'd have a little bit of a breather in the last 10 minutes, but those things just don't happen. Hopefully it's a learning experience for us that, down the road, will pay off dividends."
Andersen did not play in Anaheim's most recent matchup with Chicago.
The Ducks have beaten Chicago in six of the last eight meetings and have held the Blackhawks scoreless on the power play over the previous three.
Kane, Blackhawks come from behind to defeat Avalanche 3-2. (Wednesday night's game, 11/26/2014).
By Tracey Myers
The Blackhawks’ power play: it’s been a source of angst the last season or two.
The Blackhawks had plenty of opportunities on it in critical situations but too often it would come up empty. At its worst, the team would lose momentum because it was so ineffective.
Well, times have changed.
Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw scored power-play goals and Bryan Bickell scored the game-winner as the Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night. The Blackhawks have won four of their last five games and are now 3-1-0 on the Circus Trip, which concludes with back-to-backs at Anaheim and Los Angeles this weekend.
Patrick Kane had three assists and Brent Seabrook got his 300th career point, the primary assist on Toews’ goal. Corey Crawford stopped 27 of 29 for his 10th victory of the season. It wasn’t that long ago that the Blackhawks’ power play was the source of jokes more than it was goals. It just wasn’t working. Well, it’s humming along now. The Blackhawks have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last six games, including tonight’s two goals on the advantage. As of Wednesday night, it’s now ranked eighth overall in the league.
“It’s been really good on this trip, good for the most part for the year. Tonight, two big goals got the momentum on our side,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “What a hockey game. Very comparable to what happened last year here. We got a lot of chances, a lot of sniffs around the net and came out on the wrong side. Tonight it was nice to come out ahead.”
As usual, however, it wasn’t easy in the Pepsi Center. Despite great shots and strong net-front presence, the Blackhawks struggled to get pucks past Calvin Pickard, who was tremendous in stopping 42 of 45 shots. Enter that power play, which found ways in the second period. Seabrook’s shot stopped short of the goal line, but Toews was there to punch it in for his 10th goal of the season. Shaw scored a one-timer off a sweet Kane feed for their second power-play goal and a 2-1 lead at the time.
“As long as we’re moving the puck around and getting chances, that’s what we want,” Keith said of the power play. “We want to keep the game momentum off it and tonight we did that.”
Still, the Avs weren’t going away. They pushed hard to start the third and Ryan O’Reilly scored on a rebound to tie it 2-2 less than four minutes into the third. The Blackhawks found the winner with about five minutes remaining in regulation, as Bickell scored off Kane’s seeing-eye pass for the 3-2 edge.
“I was just trying to find some open space and look for a shot,” Kane said. “The puck was still kind of bouncing. I threw it and he made a great play. I just let him do his thing, so it was nice to see that one go in.”
The Blackhawks have been getting the pivotal power-play goals, especially on this trip. They also got a 60-minute effort. In a building that’s long been tough on them, both were welcome sights.
“Tonight was a big bounce-back night after Vancouver. We made four mistakes and we lost 4-1,” Bickell said. “Tonight we eliminated our mistakes and played well defensively. That was a good 60 minutes for us.”
Blackhawks dominate Week 1 of All-Star voting.
CSN Staff
Things are looking pretty darn good for the Chicago Blackhawks through Week 1 of the 2015 NHL All-Star Fan Vote.
Patrick Kane (73,551), Jonathan Toews (71,734), Duncan Keith (66,723) and Corey Crawford (51,212) currently occupy four of the top 10 spots, ranked fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively.
Montreal's P.K. Subban is leading the way with 100,133 votes and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby stands in second place with 87,858 votes. The only netminder ahead of Crawford is Carey Price, who finished third overall with 83,612 votes.
Voting concludes on Jan. 1, and the top-six vote-getters by position — three forwards, two defenseman and one goaltender — will participate in the 2015 All-Star Game. Visit this link to cast your vote.