Lions clinch the playoffs, then celebrate by nearly losing

The Lions avoided the trap. BARELY. Philly lost their game Saturday night, clinching a playoff spot for Detroit and making their game vs. the Bears virtually meaningless. Detroit came out lethargic, throwing 2 red zone picks and committing 2 gaffes on punt returns (a roughing the kicker & a muffed punt recovered by Chicago) that led to 14 points by the Bears. A blocked FG didn't help either. Then, with a little over 7 minutes left in the game, Joique Bell went to work.

Their run defense isn't actually that bad (ranked #16 overall through week 15), but the Lions had the most rushing yards in any game this season. Reggie Bush put together his best game of the year with 55 yds on 7 carries and a TD. Joique had 74 yards on 13 carries and a TD as well. And of course the defense stepped up...

Suh was The Man. 2 sacks, 3 QB hits and a pass defensed. PAY HIM. This defense isn't half as good (#1 vs. the run) if he bolts for NY or wherever. They held Chicago to 263 yards and of the 14 points that the Bears scored, the punt return team was responsible for 100% of that. Clausen looked a lot better than he really was, never throwing much farther than 7 yards down field. Forte was basically held in the box. Would they have been better with Cutler? Tough to say. He's more talented than Clausen, but he takes a lot off the table too (18 picks, 12 fumbles... 12 FUMBLES???). Clausen had to deal with some drops, but Cutler had put up 9 out of 14 performances superior to what Clausen did yesterday.

Stafford stunk, throwing 2 red zone picks and standing his way into 4 sacks. I can't blame the line for 3 of those, by the way. Raiola will miss the last game of the season because he's a giant db. We all know this. He's stunk this year anyway, so it'll give us a chance to look at his backup, Swanson, at the C position. Anyway, the Lions trudged through another unimpressive win and need to beat Green Bay next week if they want home field & a first round bye. Otherwise, they'll most likely see Dallas in Dallas in the first round.