Lions T Jeff Backus made his 144th consecutive start in today's game. He has the longest streak of consecutive starts among offensive linemen in the NFL and he is fifth among active players. Backus has started every game since he was drafted in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft.
K Jason Hanson has now appeared in 287 career games, the most in franchise history. Hanson's 287 career games are the third most in NFL history (most among active players) by a player with one team.
2ND QUARTER AVRIL SACK
Lions DE Cliff Avril halted a Bears series deep in Bears territory midway through the second quarter when he recorded a sack-fumble on Bears QB Jay Cutler. The sack gives Avril 5.5 on the season, which is a team high. It was also his third forced fumble of the season.
LIONS TAKE 10-6 LEAD
The Lions took a 10-6 lead in the second quarter with 2:59 to play in the half when QB Daunte Culpepper connected with WR Bryant Johnson on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Culpepper's touchdown pass was his second of the season, and the touchdown reception by Bryant Johnson was his third of the year.
The drive covered 7 plays, 42 yards and took 3:31. The drive started following the Bears possession that was stopped on third down by Avril's sack-fumble.
FIRST HALF STOPPER, GAME-HIGH TACKLER
Rookie LB DeAndre Levy, starting in his second-straight game at the middle linebacker spot and finished the game with a team high 12 tackles (eight solo) as he set a new career high.
CALVIN JOHNSON REACHES 3,000 CAREER YARDS
On his first reception of the game, WR Calvin Johnson surpassed 3,000 career receiving yards on a 23-yard catch. He is the first player in Lions history to record 3,000 career receiving yards in the first three seasons with the club.
Johnson now has 193 receptions for 3,081 yards and 21 touchdowns. The 193 catches and 3,081 yards are the most by a player in their first three years with the Lions.
MORRIS' RECEPTIONS
RB Maurice Morris caught five passes for 41 yards in today's game. The five receptions tie his single-game high previously set earlier this year vs. Arizona (December 20).
HANSON FINISHES STRONG
K Jason Hanson, who completed his 18th year in the NFL, finished the season strong by going 3-for-3 against Chicago and making field goals from 42, 48 and 32 yards. He completed the 2009 season connecting on his last six field goal attempts.
Hanson scored 11 points in the game, moving his career total to 1,835, which is seventh all-time.
Hanson also finished the season scoring 88 points and leading the team in scoring. He has led the team in scoring during each of his 18 seasons in the league.
LIONS HEAD COACH JIM SCHWARTZ
Opening Statement: "The only thing that we judge ourselves on are wins and losses and obviously we lost and had plenty of chances to be able to take control of this game. It seemed like every time we did, we made a play that let them get the upper hand and put them back in control and had some penalties that hurt us and took away some big plays for us and made some mistakes that cost us big in this game."
On Delmas being out of the game on Forté's long run: "He has a knee (injury). He was trying to make a stop at the end and he couldn't run. All of the sudden you get in the redzone and you don't need to run very far. He's an absolute warrior. The things he's dealt with this year: both ankles, both shoulders and now this knee."
On him being upset with the spot after the fan ran on the field: "Yeah, when I looked at it, the ball was just inside the one yard mark and it was really, really close. Then, all of the sudden I turned around and (the officials) moved it back a half a yard so I was trying to figure out why that happened. They said that when they originally looked at the spot, in their judgement, it wasn't a first down but they probably should have measured it - but we've got to be able to gain a yard; good gracious, it's short yardage. I think the biggest thing there is that regardless of where that spot is, we've got to be able to gain that first down. We got stuffed on a short-yardage play immediately following it. It didn't matter if it was third-down-and-one-inch there or third-down-and-a-full-yard. We lost yardage on that play so that (spot) wasn't going to make a difference on that play."
On whether he thought that WR Calvin Johnson was open in the endzone towards the end of the game when Culpepper threw the ball away: "Yeah, the one he scrambled and then just missed him? Yeah, he had a chance at him."
On the fake punt: "We've had that called about 100 times this year but you don't usually get a very good look for it. They had six in the box, two gunners and a returner back there so they had five guys out of the equation. A lot of people in the league have that and we've got to be able to pick that up. That was called in a good situation. They gave us the right defense for it and we didn't execute it and that hurt us. That was one of the few times our defense was put in a bad position. Our defense did a poor job when we actually had good field position when it was turning the ball over and things like that we'd been responding well. Giving up a touchdown there hurt us."
On why QB Daunte Culpepper started: "Drew (Stanton) had an ankle and was severely limited on Wednesday. If Drew would have been 100-percent healthy and been able to take every rep in practice then there would have been consideration for him going. But as soon as it was a situation where he was going to go be severely limited on Wednesday and Thursday - by the time Thursday came around Drew was moving around well - but you can't count on that on Wednesday. We needed to make that decision earlier in the week. All things considered it was the best way to try to win this game."
On whether the team made mental mistakes or were out-manned: "I don't want to say outmanned, let's just say physical, they were physical mistakes. I don't know that we had missed assignments that cost us, they were technique errors, there were missed tackles, errant passes or something like that - more physical mistakes. Let's just categorize them that way rather than 'outmanned'."
On Culpepper's interception at the beginning of the game: "That was just miscommunication. (Chicago) got up in press (coverage) and then they bailed out of it and the wide receiver saw the bail but Daunte didn't see the bail and he had his adjustment based on press and they did a good job of disguising that. He wanted to try to make a big play and they just weren't on the same page right there."
On the defense giving up big plays: "Yeah, I mean that was the same defense that we used to get a big third down stop earlier and we've been working on that a lot. That was a safe blitz, took away his primary reads and he had enough time - we weren't able to get a four-man pass rush on him. We had a technique error and it allowed the guy to get open down the middle of the field. It allowed the guy to get open down the middle of the field and that was a huge play. That and the run on the next series - those were huge plays in this game."
On LB Zack Follett's play today and his future with the team: "I think we need to look at that, for sure. The reason that we got him in there as part of that package today, and generally it ends up being that way with players, is they do well in practice, they do well on special teams and you try to find a way to put them into an offensive or defensive package. He was a guy that in our minds, earned playing time. Last week against San Francisco there was an injury situation and he went out in our four-linebacker package and in short-yardage stuff and did a really nice job in that game. So when you do that, you get the trust of the coaching staff and they put you in different packages and things like that. It was based on what he did in practice and what he's done on special teams and then also in a limited role last week at San Francisco he showed well."
On whether WR Derrick Williams will return kicks next season: "I think you've got to count on players improving. That's one of the reasons that he was drafted and I think that's one thing that we need to improve on. I think we should just put it that way. Whether that's an individual player improving or whether that's improving by getting someone else. That's one of the reasons that he was drafted and he didn't return any punts this year because he struggled to catch the ball and that fumble was critical in that situation. He didn't bring a whole lot of explosiveness to our return game. Our return game was extremely inconsistent this year and particularly on kickoff returns."
On whether kick returner is a position that you can evaluate very quickly: "I don't know, I'm at a loss right now but I'm sure you could find a bunch of guys who didn't have a whole lot of success as a rookie that developed into good returners. I wouldn't want to just make that blanket statement and just give up on a guy because of one look."
On an amazing catch by WR Calvin Johnson: "He has a 44-inch vertical and he's 6'5 and he used all of it to snag that one ball. As soon as the ball was thrown I said, 'There's no possible way that ball is going to be complete.' He's got great hands, a huge frame and things like that. I think the biggest thing, as you said, putting his body in different positions and things like that. The thing we need to be able to do is to be able to make plays opposite of him. We need to make plays inside, be able to run the ball and what you'll see is that it will open it up more for Calvin. We've said that probably since last Spring. We've talked about that if we want to see Calvin go, we've got to get our run game going. If you want Calvin to catch the ball, the other receivers, the tight ends, the running backs - they need to pick it up in the passing game. Calvin is a great player but we need more around him for him to be able to make more great plays like he made today."
On S Louis Delmas: "Well, I think I'll just leave it at this: he went out with the captains today. Larry Foote was our defensive captain and Larry was injured and wasn't able to play and Delmas went out with the Captains. He's a rookie and there aren't many people that you're comfortable about putting out in that role. There's a lot of pressure with that. We have a couple guys that we were comfortable putting in that role and that was Matthew Stafford and Delmas. They were guys that as the season went on they developed more and more of that leadership role."
LIONS QB DAUNTE CULPEPPER
On his performance today: "I would have to see the tape. Ultimately, I just didn't do enough for us to win. I made some plays here and there, but just didn't make enough and that's football. If you don't make enough plays, most of the times you lose."
On settling for a field goal late in the fourth: "We got down there and stalled. We had an opportunity to score a touchdown. They made us play a patient game. They made us check the ball down and run in spots. That's Lovie Smith's defense; that's how he plays and that's how he's been successful, and we just didn't capitalize. We had a couple of shots here and there. We took our shots but just couldn't make the plays."
On if he thought this was his most comfortable game: "I mean, I tried to get into a rhythm. They did some things where they tried to put some pressure on us here and there, but the offensive line did a tremendous job picking up the blitzes and giving me time to throw, so I felt comfortable. I had a great work week and it carried over in that aspect."
On the sideline throw he threw to WR Calvin Johnson: "It was probably one of the most amazing catches that I've been a part of in the game. He went up and he went out of his atmosphere. It seems like he went up about 12 or 13 feet. He's a top caliber player and this team needs to figure out ways to keep getting him the ball because he is something special."
On when he threw the ball did he know it was going to be a completion: "I knew I had to put it up there and just give him a chance. That's the thing about a guy like him: you just have to give him a chance and he went up there extremely high."
On the interception he threw in the first quarter: "It was just some miscommunication. Those things happen sometimes. You don't want them to happen in your first series of the football game but it happens. It's one of those gray areas."
On bouncing back from his interception: "That's the thing. You got to have perseverance; you got to keep plugging away. That's what I keep telling guys. The first series means something. You want to be successful, but if you mess up in the first series it doesn't mean the games over."
LIONS LB ERNIE SIMS
On his feelings about the season: "Disappointment. We just didn't accomplish what we strived to do in the offseason with the people we brought in, the new acquisitions we made, new coaches, a new coaching staff. They flipped the whole script and they took everybody out and brought new people in and it just hasn't changed. We're still losing. We're not doing what it takes to win."
On if this season feels different from last year: "Losing is losing. Just because we won two games it doesn't make it feel better. Losing is losing, and that's what I've been experiencing ever since I've been here. We need to turn this thing around. I'm sick of losing. Yeah, I'm not perfect, I don't do everything I have to do to win, but I'm only one person on the team."
On if he's encouraged by anything he saw this year: "I am. The guys that we drafted played very well this year after having to step in. I'm really encouraged by that. The defensive scheme that we played this year-I like it a lot. For me personally, a lot of these plays out here make me a lot more explosive. It seems like the people that we brought in… We were on the right track, and I do believe we were going to be on the right track but it doesn't show this year."
On losing control of the game defensively in the second half: "We just got away from the basics. We were doing well stopping the run and they didn't get a lot of explosive plays in the first half. Like (Julian Peterson) said earlier: our second half has been our downfall. We go out there and we lose focus and we just give them too many big plays."
LIONS DE JASON HUNTER
On his thoughts of having the game slip away at the end: "Well, give credit to them. They came out and they just adjusted. They hit us with a big play. They hit us with two big plays actually and that kind of was the straw that broke the camel's back. We battled hard all game, but in this league if you make mistakes it will cost you and that's the problem we had today. Our guys came out and responded well to it, and we just made some critical errors and the errors just cost us."
On his thoughts of the team being plagued with the same problems: "That's something that you have to minimize. We are professional athletes. There are going to be mistakes but if you constantly have the same mistakes every game, teams are going to see that on film and it is just going to hurt us. That's something that we'll have to work on, just get in the film room and see what hurt us, and focus on that. This way we can come back in 2010 and have a solid year."
On if he can build off what happened this year: "Oh definitely. Look at what we put on film. We got guys just flying around to the ball. We're trying to gel together as a unit. Once we get all the pieces together we are going to be a tough team and we played some tough football throughout the whole year. I think people can definitely see a drastic change from last year to this year, so definitely guys are dedicated and want to win. The coaches are in place, we did great in the draft, so we're going to be a great team.
BEARS HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH
On finishing the season strong with two wins: "After some disappointing things that happened to us this year, we didn't have the season that we wanted. But after you get down to two games you want to finish strong. We just wanted to put a better product on the football field. The last couple of weeks we put a better product on the field. Today's game and the last couple weeks we really played well. Our offense moved the ball and guys played hard."
On QB Jay Cutler's play to finish the season: "Talking about today's game Jay over the last couple of weeks has really played well. He had four touchdown passes and just running our offense at full control."
On whether changes are necessary for next season: "When you talk about changes that are necessary, what I was looking at the last couple of weeks was what we're doing right now. You're not thinking about changes that are necessary. You're just thinking about putting a better product on the field. What I saw was our guys that we had in position to make plays, make plays. We didn't turn over the football. The turnover ratio has been good. And then finishing it off, getting our running game going. That's how we won the football game."
On whether he anticipates changes to the coaching staff: "Right now today, what we're concentrating on as much as anything is our big win. Every year changes happen. We realize that's a part of it. We're enjoying this right now. I think changes are necessary from top to bottom with everybody that's has something to do with everything right now as far as improving our team. As far as changes, we just need to change some things to make it a little better and go from there."
On whether he anticipates returning as the head coach next year: "I think all of us didn't do as good a job as we needed to, starting with me. As a head football coach, I didn't do as good a job as I needed to. And it goes down to all coaches, players and everyone who's involved in our organization didn't do as good job as we need to - to get back where we belong. Until someone tells me otherwise - after a game, I normally come to work trying to improve our ball club. I'll do the same thing tomorrow."
BEARS QB JAY CUTLER
On the importance of finishing the season with two wins: "I think it was important to the team, just to get some momentum and just for confidence for the guys going into the offseason."
On his TDs/interceptions ratio: "We've got to get that other number down. It's the bottom line."
On what the difference has been in the last two games: "I don't know. I've got to go back and look at the film and see what we did. We didn't accomplish our goals. There's still a lot we have to do. More than anything, it just shows that we can play good football."
On whether he expects changes in the offseason: "I don't know. I've been in situations in Denver where we really didn't expect much change and there's a complete overhaul. You never know exactly what's going to happen. That's not my job."
BEARS RB MATT FORTE
On his feelings about the Bears' season: "You always want to do better than you did last year or at least the same, and when you're not able to do that it's frustrating."
On rushing for over 100 yards: "It's fun to go out and get 100 yards or more in any game, and I was just glad that we got a win and can take some momentum into the offseason."
On his longest run of the game: "It was great blocking up front. I came, I got the ball, I saw a hole to the left side and everybody basically blocked so I just came right through and ran up the sideline."
On injuries playing a role in the season: "It's a factor any time you play football. Everybody has injuries and every team has injuries but that's not an excuse for why you had some trouble or why you had not so great of a season. Everybody has to deal with injuries."
BEARS CB NATHAN VASHER
On coming away with the win: "I think it was a very competitive game. Detroit plays really well at home and the game didn't start getting out of reach until [late in the fourth quarter]. We knew that they were going to compete. They have a lot of talented guys on their team so you have to tip your hat to them."
On if the Lions surprised them with anything: "We knew that they were going to throw the ball and let Calvin get his catches but we just tried to keep everything to a minimum and come out of here with a win."
On if WR Calvin Johnson is one of the toughest opponents he's faced: "I think he's one of the best in the league."
On winning two games in a row: "Any time you can get a win is great, so you just want to finish on a high note and look forward to next year."
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