Two teams that do not like each other duked it out and this was no contest. The Bears used six Detroit turnovers,and got yet another punt return for a TD by Devin Hester and hammered the Lions 37-13 to draw even with their Division rivals.It was an Indian Summer like,yet windy afternoon. At kickoff,the temperature was 67* with winds gusting up to 40MPH. The Bears came out wearing their orange shirts for the second time this season and after the Lions,who looked like late Pumpkins,won the toss and received,the Bears got their first of two quick turnovers as first Julius Peppers forced a Calvin Johnson fumbled which Brian Urlacher recovered and returned to the Detroit 30. Matt Forted finished the drive with a six yard TD run just 4:31 into the game. Then on the Lions second second series,Nate Burleson had the ball stripped by Tim Jennings who fell on it at the Bears 38. The Lions held,but Robbie Gould kicked a 43 yard field goal that the winds didn’t effect. Jay Cutler hit Earl Bennett at the Lions 18 and after the call on the field was ruled that he was out of bounds,but Lovie Smith challenged and the call was overturn as the quarter ended 10-0 Bears. After a Hester 29 yard punt return to the Detroit 38 led to a Gould 35 yard field goal,making it 13-zip. After the Bears stopped the Lions three and out with zero yards gained and Ryan Donahue’s punt was returned by Devin Hester 82 yards for a TD. He just kept his feet in bounds and despite a review,the Bears took a 20-0 lead just :45 seconds into the second period. The Lions got their first break when a Cutler lateral was off target and Detroit got it at the Bears 22,but the defense stiffened and Jason Hanson got the Lions on the board with a 29 yard field goal. Detroit had a nice drive late in the half which was halted when Peppers sacked Stafford at the 17,forcing a 35 yard field goal by Hanson with 1:23 left before halftime. Gould missed wide right on a 43 yard try with :06 left and the Bears took a 20-6 lead into halftime.

The Bears went a quick three and out to start the third quarter,but then Major Wright picked off a Stafford pass and returned it 24 yards untouched to make it 27-6 only 1:44 into the third quarter. If that wasn’t enough, Stafford’s awful day continued when Peanut Tillman got in front of a pass,picked it off and got his fourth career pick six from the 45 yard line to turn this into a 34-6 rout. After stopping another Detroit series,the Bears got a 40 yard run from Forte which set up Gould’s third field goal of the day, from 50 yards to make it 37-6.The Lions put up a nice drive to the Bears 11,but four incompletions later,the ball went over on downs. That was how the score was after three periods. Then when Jennings picked off a Stafford pass and returned it to his 48,and Stafford grabbed D.J.Moore by the helmet and a brawl occurred as players came off both benches. Detroit challenged the call that Jennings was down by contact and that was upheld. Moore was the only player ejected. The Bears got the ball at their own 8 as chants of “Detroit Sucks!” began as well. Corey Graham got the fourth Bears interception of the game in the end zone and the Lions,who had just five turnovers all season,now had their SIXTH of this game. The Lions got a late TD on a Stafford to TE Tony Scheffler with 5:00 left.

NOTES—18 NON-Offensive TD’s by Hester is one behind Deion Sanders who had some defensive TD off picks. This does NOT include Hester’s Kickoff return TD to start Superbowl 41….With four ‘Pick Six’s” Tillman tied Mike Brown and Benny McRae for most in Bears history….In addition to Stafford’s cheap shot on Moore,in which the QB was NOT penalized, Rookie Nick Fairly of the Lions was also guilty of a late hit on Cutler,but he WAS called for it twice inthis game.

LES