Over the past 6 years the Lions defense, especially their Pass defense, has been ranked at or near the bottom of the barrel. It didn't look like anything had changed this season when the defense gave up 56 points to Donovan McNabb and the Eagles in Week 3. This week though you would never have been able to tell, in fact you would have though the Lions were known for their defensive prowess, a far cry from the truth.
The Lions secondary held Bears QB Brian Griese to 208 yards and forced 4 interceptions, after he had thrown for over 300 yards and only 2 INT's in the past two weeks. Greise looked lost on almost every passing down, under-throwing several short passes to his running backs and wide receivers.
The Lions corners played exceptionally well, holding WR's Bernard Berrian and Mushin Muhammed to 45 and 23 yards respectively. Fernando Bryant and Keith Smith both had key interceptions in the final minutes, while Kennoy Kennedy and rookie Gerald Alexander both recorded INT's in the end zone. The only member of the starting secondary held without an INT was Travis Fisher, who was injured during the game.
The running game was once again very effective, with Kevin Jones going over the 100 yard mark for the first time since November 6th, 2006. This is a great sign, seeing as both times Jones has carried the ball 15 times, the Lions have won the game. Roy Williams also took a break from delivering pizzas to have a nice day with 8 catches for 77 yards.
At 5-2 the Lions are looking like a contender for the NFC north crown, but with a very tough schedule coming up with games against Denver, the New York "Football" Giants, and the Green Bay Packers, they will have to put up or shut up if they want to reach Jon Kitna's prediction of 10 wins.
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