Nov. 28--DETROIT -- Bears cornerback Demontre Hurst wishes he had done a little more. Safety Brock Vereen knows he needed to make a play. Kyle Fuller could only shake his head.
On a key third-and-4 early in the second quarter Thursday, three Bears defensive backs had an up-close look at Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson. And what they saw was vintage "Megatron," a 25-yard touchdown catch in traffic that awakened a lifeless Lions offense and served as a snapshot of the Bears' frustrating 34-17 loss.
Hurst covered Johnson in the slot as the play began, aiming to re-route the Lions receiver outside the numbers and toward Fuller. But Johnson slithered past.
Behind him, Fuller reacted in zone coverage, hitting Johnson as the ball arrived, but not hard enough to dislodge it.
And coming from the middle of the field, Vereen read things correctly but never made a play on Johnson or the ball, little more than an eyewitness to a pretty Matthew Stafford pass and, yes, another highlight-reel Johnson touchdown catch.
"He just went up and got it," Hurst said. "He attacked the ball. ... Everybody did their job. (Stafford) just threw it up and he made a great play."
Vereen accepted responsibility.
"Kyle's a stand-up guy and tried to take (blame) on that. No. That's 100 percent me," he said. "... I have to be decisive. When you anticipate something and you're correct, you have to take advantage of that opportunity. Because they don't come along often."
In the Lions' convincing victory Thursday at Ford Field, consider that the play that broke open the dam. It had been 18 days and more than nine quarters since the Lions had scored their last touchdown. Yet Johnson's grab seemed to rekindle their confidence.
In a 14-3 hole at the end of the first quarter, the Lions surged ahead 24-14 by halftime and didn't stop shredding the Bears' defense.
On 19 second-quarter plays, the Lions rolled up 199 yards and 21 points.
It was the latest rude awakening for a Bears team that now has suffered five of its seven losses by at least 13 points, a sign they're still ill-equipped to compete with playoff-caliber opponents.
The Lions came into the day averaging 17.9 points per game, fifth worst in the NFL. On Thursday, they scored 34.
Stafford entered the game with a 58.8 completion percentage this season but torched the Bears for 34 completions on 45 passes, throwing for 390 yards, 44 more than his previous season-best from Week 1.
And Johnson? He kept the Ford Field press box announcer busy announcing statistical milestones.
His two touchdowns Thursday gave him eight total on Thanksgiving day, an NFL record. Johnson also went past 10,000 career receiving yards in his 115th game, also an NFL record. And his 146 yards on 11 catches Thursday against the Bears gave him 42 100-yard games.
Johnson's 6-yard touchdown grab with 24 seconds left before halftime came on a fade past Fuller, an effortless grab that punctuated the half.
Bears defensive end Willie Young, a teammate of Johnson's for four seasons with the Lions, gained a heightened appreciation for the receiver Thursday.
"Man," Young said. "It's something else being on the other side of the field when you see that guy go up for a ball. You can't even get mad at the guy who's covering him. You can't point a finger. There's no, 'If I was out there, I would have done this.' His name speaks for itself."
After a brutal second quarter, the Bears still found themselves alive and kicking, down just 24-17 late in the third. But once again, near-misses and squandered opportunities plagued the defense during a 12-play, 95-yard Lions touchdown drive.
Early on that series, on third-and-6 from the Detroit 11, Stafford drilled a 6-yard completion to Golden Tate, a pass Hurst seemed to be in position to intercept.
"It was pretty much looking me dead in the face," he said. "I just didn't make the play. There's no excuses for that. Either knock the ball down or pick it off."
Seven plays later, Young provided a sack, a big play that would have pushed the Lions back into third-and-19 at the Bears 27. Instead, Young's grip on Stafford's helmet produced a roughing the passer flag, a Lions first down at the 9 and another untimely setback.
The Lions scored a touchdown, of course. And the Bears were left with the same "wasn't meant to be" feeling that has unsettled them for the last two months.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
Twitter @danwiederer
