Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Chicago 20 at Detroit 23 (OT) WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Chicago Bears: QB Chris Chandler had a shaky game filling in for Jim Miller, going 16/25 for 163 yards, a TD and an interception. He seemed to favor Dez White as a target, and also threw several times to Fred Baxter, who came in to replace John Davis at TE. Over all, a luke-warm performance from the veteran QB. RB Anthony Thomas never seemed to get his rhythm going, despite rushing for 92 yards and a TD. He also fumbled twice in the game, one of which ended up a Lion TD a couple plays later. The Bear run defense was abysmal, allowing James Stewart to run over them like they weren't there all game long and giving up 172 yards to the Lion RB. When the Lions did pass, the Bear managed to put some pressure on Joey Harrington and make him rush his throws. They tried to intimidate the young Lion QB with blitzes, but Harrington wasn't fazed too much. On one play, Brian Urlacher nailed Harrington hard as he threw the ball, but Harrington bounced right up and patted Urlacher on the back. WR Marty Booker only caught 1 pass (for a TD) while Dez White was the favorite target of Chris Chandler, and was targeted several times downfield. One long pass was called back after the Lions challenged that White had part of his foot out of bounds and won. He also caught another 38 yard pass that led to Anthony Thomas's TD. White ended up with 70 yards for the day. Detroit Lions: QB Joey Harrington's numbers weren't spectacular (16/30, 199 yards), and he appeared a bit shaky and indecisive at times. He didn't throw an interception. But he also failed to find the endzone against the Bears banged up defense. The less than spectacular passing performance was partially due to the Lions finally getting a good ground attack going, and James Stewart having a career day rushing. WR Germane Crowell returned to the field for his first game since October of last year. He was not a big factor and looked rusty but if he can return to his previous form, it's a huge boost to Harrington. RB James Stewart had a career day on the ground, carrying the ball 32 times for 172 yards and two TD's, plus adding a couple receptions for 28 yards. The offensive line dominated the Bears run defense and opened huge holes for Stewart. The Lions secondary continues to have problems. Although they only allowed bears QB Chris Chandler 163 yards and intercepted him once, they gave up several costly long gains to Chandler that led to Bears scores. The Lion WR's were very quiet this game as James Stewart ran over the Bears all game long. The leading receiver for the team was RB Aveion Cason (57 yards), and Scotty Anderson led the Lion WR's with only 34 yards on three catches. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Chicago Bears QB: Chris Chandler , who set an NFL record by starting for his 7th team filling in for the injured Jim Miller, had a poor day passing, going 16/25 for 163 yards, 1 TD, and one interception. He did throw several nice long passes to Dez White and Fred Baxter, with White seeming to be Chandlers favored target for the day. Chandler had decent pass protection but never established a rhythm. Not a good performance against the Lions very poor secondary. Chandler looked like he dinged his throwing hand after one hard spill, but proceeded to throw a TD pass to Marty Booker the next play. He was seen afterwards clutching his hand in pain on the side lines several times during the rest of the game. RB: Anthony Thomas (26/92, 1 TD) had a decent day rushing the ball despite never really establishing his game. However, he also fumbled twice, both of which were recovered by the Lions and one leading to a Lion TD. Leon Johnson (2/6) and Stanley Pritchett (1/2) also played but were not factors. WR: Dez White was Chandler's favorite target in this game, catching 3 passes for 70 yards. Chandler gave him many looks, and one 29 yard pass was negated when it was ruled White was out of bounds after a Lion challenge. He also had a nice 24 yard catch that set up a Bear TD. Marty Booker caught only one pass for 14 yards, but it was a TD. Marcus Robinson had only one catch for four yards and was not a factor in this game. TE: John Davis, who has been playing very well lately, started the game at TE for the Bears but left early on after a ten yard catch with a rib injury. No word on how serious it was. Fred Baxter came in for the injured Davis and caught 3 passes for 40 yards, including a nice 22 yard grab. K: Paul Edinger was perfect, hitting 2 of 2 field goals including a 53 yarder and both extra point attempts. Rush Defense: Non existent. James Stewart ran right through them all day long, ending up with 172 yards and 2 TD's on the ground. A horrible performance overall, even though the Bears defense is banged up. Interesting to note was the announcers comments all game long that running right at Brian Urlacher rather than away to the side lines is the way to beat the Bear run defense... It worked to perfection in this game as that is exactly what the Lions did all game long. Pass Defense: Did fairly well against Joey Harrington, and were able to keep pressure on the young QB. However, Harrington stayed poised for the most part and handled himself well, especially on the last Lion drive in regulation, against the Bear blitz. The bear secondary held the Lion receivers out of the endzone and kept them quiet during the game, but were never really tested due to the dominance of the Lion rushing attack. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Detroit Lions QB: Joey Harrington had a rather unspectacular day, going 16/30 for 199 yards with no TD's and no interceptions and one fumble that was recovered by the Bears. He looked somewhat shaky at times throwing the ball, and was under some pressure by the Bears pass rush for most of the game. At one point Harrington was hit hard by Brian Urlacher, but then popped right back up and patted Urlacher on the back, showing he wasn't too intimidated by the Bears pass rush. A lot of Harrington's lack of production in this game was due to the dominance of Lion RB James Stewart and the Lion rushing attack. Harrington's numbers once again took a dive in the second half, although he did perform well on the Lions game tying drive late in the fourth quarter. RB: James Stewart had a career day against a tough but banged up Bears defense, rushing for a career high 172 yards on 32 carries. Stewart ran extremely well behind a nice performance by the Lion offensive line, who opened huge holes for him play after play. Stewart carried the Lions offense in this game, and never seemed to tire... he only came out a couple plays for a breather the entire game. Despite the excellent performance, this is the first time Stewart has run the ball well all year, and it remains to be seen if he can perform as well on a consistent basis. Aveion Cason (3/9) and Cory Schlesinger (2/4) both played but contributed very little to the Lion rushing game. Schlesinger was wide open in the endzone on the last Lion drive in regulation, but Harrington didn't see him and threw to TE John Owens instead who dropped the ball. WR: Az-Zahir Hakim, who had been Harrington's favorite target of late, had a very quiet game, catching only 1 pass for 13 yards. None of the Lion WR's had much production due to the Lions running the ball all game long. However, with Bill Schroeder injured Hakim still remains the Lions go to receiver. Scotty Anderson led the Detroit WR's with 34 yards on three catches. A catch by Anderson ruled incomplete was challenged by the Lions and the pass was ruled a completion and fumble out of bounds. Play resulted in a first down and kept Lions last drive in regulation alive. Anderson seems to gradually be getting more looks from Harrington.. Larry Foster had 2 catches for 28 yards and was not a factor in the game. Germane Crowell did play in the game, his first since October 21, 2001. He had 2 catches for 21 yards, but dropped a couple balls thrown to him that were catchable. If he can return to previous form, this is great news for Harrington and Lions fans. TE: With Mikhael Ricks out with an injury, John Owens started at TE for the Lions. He had 2 catches for 19 yards, but dropped a very catchable pass in the endzone that would have won the game for the Lions in regulation time. K: Jason Hanson hit 3 of 4 field goal attempts, including the game winner in over time, and hit both extra point attempts. The miss came on a 55 yard attempt. Rush Defense: The Lion rush defense did a respectable job, even though they allowed Anthony Thomas 92 yards on 26 attempts and a 1 yard plunge for a TD. They never allowed Thomas to really establish his running game, and also caused him to fumble twice, one of which led to a Lion TD. Pass Defense: The Lion secondary showed flashes of good play, including intercepting Chris Chandler once, but still gave up several long passes on the corners. They got lucky when a 29 yard pass to Dez White that ended up on the Lion 2 yard line was ruled incomplete after a challenge from the Lions. The pass rush didn't put much pressure on Chandler during the game. The Lion pass defense remains very suspect overall, and good passing offenses will continue to pick them a part.