No Love Lost Between Bears and Lions..............

Article updated: 10/15/2012 8:32 PM

No love lost between Bears, Lions

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Officials break up a fight between the Bears and the Detroit Lions in last season’s game at Soldier Field. Associated Press

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By Bob LeGere




The Bears-Lions rivalry has developed a bit of an edge.
From 2005-10 the Bears dominated, winning 10 of 12 meetings with Detroit, and 5 of those victories were by 14 points or more. But last year the series became more competitive — and more than a little chippy. More of the same is expected Monday night at Soldier Field.


Last season the Bears lost 24-13 in Detroit on a Monday night in Week 5. But five weeks later they got payback with a 37-13 victory at home that featured 6 take-aways and an 82-yard punt-return TD from Devin Hester. The Bears’ defense picked off Matthew Stafford four times in the rematch. Two of the interceptions — by Charles Tillman and Major Wright — were returned for touchdowns.


Some Bears feel that wasn’t enough.


“Especially last year, after that Monday night game, we owe them something,” said tight end Kellen Davis, who had a 9-yard TD catch in the first game. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and mixing it up. “(They’re) division rivals. There are teams we have to beat. It’s just the way it goes.”


That second 2011 game featured the ejection of Bears cornerback D.J. Moore, who took exception to Stafford’s attempt to fend off his block on 1 of the 4 interceptions. The Lions’ quarterback yanked Moore down by his helmet, and when Moore tried to retaliate he was banished.


“There’s always going to be bad blood,” cornerback Tim Jennings said. “Just the fact that we’re Chicago and they’re Detroit, and they’re in our division, and we know we have to go through one another to get to the championship. “So there’s always going to be bad blood with them, (just like) Minnesota and Green Bay. It’s nothing different. They’re going to come in here with the same attitude, the same mentality, that they don’t like us. They want to win, and it’s going to be a dogfight until the end.”


Some hard feelings remain and could resurface on national TV in a hostile environment.


“I don’t know about hostile,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said, “no more than it ever has been. But just looking at our division, Chicago isn’t one of Detroit’s favorites. They’re not one of our favorites, and it should be like that in the division. “And when everybody is playing good ball, you know you have to be ready each play. Having played a couple games on the road, we’re excited about coming back home.”


The Lions’ comeback overtime victory Sunday against the Eagles in Philadelphia kept their season alive. A loss would have dropped them to 1-4. Now, a Lions victory over the 4-1 Bears would even their record at 3-3 and draw them to within 1 game of the current division leaders. It also would further bunch all four NFC North rivals.


The Packers’ Sunday night victory over the previously undefeated Houston Texans leveled their record at 3-3, and the Vikings’ loss to the Washington Redskins dropped them to 4-2. That tightened the division race while also leaving the Bears alone atop the NFC North. A Bears victory Monday would give them a 3-game lead over the Lions and leave them in control of the North with everyone else playing catch-up.


“It’s real huge,” Jennings said. “It’s our first division opponent, and it’s Monday night football. We take it as we need this win to stay on top of our division to try to get where we want to go, and that’s that first-round bye when the playoffs come. (Did they move the Packers out of the NFCN and not tell anyone?)


“So we need to take care of this.”


rlegere@dailyherald.com

Bears hope to avoid chippy play against the Lions

BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com October 15, 2012 10:53PM


http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/site...YPE=image/jpeg Bears cornerback D.J. Moore breaks up a pass intended for Colts receiver Reggie Wayne in the fourth quarter of the Chicago Bears 41-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday September 9, 2012 at Soldier Field. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times





Updated: October 16, 2012 2:20AM


Cornerback D.J. Moore is one of the Bears’ most affable and approachable players. But after walking off the practice field with media relations manager Jim Christman, he declined interview requests Monday.


It wasn’t a big surprise. The Bears are trying to put a plug on a storyline that is the bane of coach Lovie Smith’s existence: the repercussions from a fight between Moore and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in the Bears’ 37-13 rout of the Lions last Nov. 13 at Soldier Field. But they can’t muzzle everybody.


‘‘There’s always going to be bad blood, just because we’re Chicago and they’re Detroit,’’ said cornerback Tim Jennings, whose interception — one of four by the Bears — precipitated the brawl. ‘‘They’re in our division. We know we’ve got to go through one *another to get that championship we [want]. ‘‘So there’s always going to be bad blood with them, Minnesota and Green Bay. It’s nothing different. They’re going to come in here with the same attitude I’m sure, the mentality that they don’t like us. They want to win and it’s going to be a dogfight to the end.’’


The Moore-Stafford altercation was the main event that followed an undercard of chippy play that included Ndamukong Suh ripping Jay Cutler’s helmet from his head, a late hit by Kyle Vanden Bosch on Cutler, a chop block by Dominic Raiola and various alleged cheap shots on both sides that netted the NFC North rivals $52,500 in fines from the NFL.


No matter how much the Bears try to defuse the situation, it’s unlikely the Lions have forgotten. Vanden Bosch disputed his late hit and claimed the Bears were cheap-shotting Stafford earlier in the game. Stafford, who instigated the incident by pulling Moore to the ground by the helmet after Moore blocked him following an interception, was unapologetic. ‘‘They hit me every play. I’m going to hit them every chance I get,’’ he told the Detroit Free Press the *following week.


The Bears are going to do *everything they can to avoid a sideshow.


‘‘They’ve got a chip on their shoulder. I guess we’ve both got a chip on our shoulder,’’ safety Major Wright said. ‘‘But I don’t feel like we have to brace [for a response from the Lions]. We’re just going to take it like every [other] week. Go out. Play hard. Play fast. Play physical. And let everything else dictate itself.’’


That will be interesting to watch. Defiant Lions coach Jim Schwartz likes his team to play on the edge. Smith feels coaching is more productive.


‘‘Our coach, he’s not big on playing [on too much emotion],’’ Wright said. ‘‘Just play at the same level each week and you don’t have to change much.’’ Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to avoid.


‘‘Every time we play each other it’s kind of intense,’’ Wright said. ‘‘We play them twice a year. We know what they do. They know what we do. We play hard. May the best man win.’’

This is really a bigger "must win" game than it might otherwise seem to be. It's an opportunity to serve notice to three other teams who the team to beat in the NFCN really is. We can go two games up and Minny and GB and three up on Detroit and we need to do that and create some cushion now while we have a good chance of doing it.

We're a better team on paper but we need to show it on the field too. Detroit is gonna come in and try to "out tough" us and the Bears need to show them that nobody does that to the Bears. I can see a good old fashioned Black and Blue Division style game coming up and we need to play old style Bears football and take it to them physically.

It'll be nice to have a few guys returning from injuries and also having had an extra week for guys like Pep and Urlacher to rest their bodies. It's gonna be a long hard climb for the rest of the season and we need to win these upcoming games that we "should" win.