Why Do NFL Teams Still Kick to Devin Hester?

The Bears took care of business against the Lions at Solider Field on Sunday to the tune of a 37-13 drubbing. This game was never in doubt as the Bears were in control from the start.    

Lets breakdown the way the Bears were able to manhandle the Lions.

Turnovers

As I said in my keys to victory the Bears needed to force turnovers in this game. Wow did they ever—they forced six. The Bears picked Matthew Stafford off four times, returning two for scores, and forced two fumbles, one leading to a Matt Forte touchdown (the only offensive touchdown of the day) and another to a Robbie Gould field goal.

Devin Hester

For the life of me I cannot figure out why any team in the NFL continues to kick the ball to this man. Hester returned a punt 82 yards for a score to extend his NFL record for punt returns touchdowns to 12. On the previous return, Hester had one man to beat for a score. Then after the TD on Detroit's next possession, they kicked to him AGAIN!  That is not good coaching.

Julius Peppers

Peppers continues to look like a man amongst boys out there. Peppers was all over the field forcing a fumble by Calvin Johnson that was recovered by Brian Urlacher to set up the first score. Peppers also had a sack to go along with three tackles, a tipped pass and four quarterback pressures. 

Dirty game?

The Lions came into the game with the reputation for being dirty and they lived up to that reputation in this game. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley drove Jay Cutler into the ground that drew a 15 yard penalty while his fellow linemate Ndamukong Suh had a number of questionable plays (not penalized), including a late hit on Cutler towards the end of the half.

Lance Briggs was flagged for a personal foul for his hit on Calvin Johnson. A hit that I think was clean and the officials were being too proactive to keep this game from getting out of hand. DJ Moore was ejected after a Matthew Stafford interception that led to Moore blocking Stafford down field when Stafford threw Moore to the ground by his head. Moore got up and retaliated in what set off a scrum that the officials did a nice job of not letting get too out of hand.

The Bears offense did not have their best game of the season but with the way this game played out it is hard to call them out. This game was never in doubt and the Bears had complete control so the gameplan had to be tweaked on the fly. Matt Forte ran the ball 18 times for 64 yards and a score. Jay Cutler was 9-for-19 for 123 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.  Earl Bennett came up big again with six catches for 81 yards. 

On the defensive side, Tim Jennings had a big game with 10 tackles to lead the team and one of the four picks along with a forced fumble that led to a field goal. Both Charles Tillman and Major Wright had pick-sixes.

Overall, it was a good old fashion whooping by the Bears.  

The win gives the Bears the tiebreaker with Detroit along with Atlanta and Tampa Bay, who both lost Sunday. The Bears are in control of their own destiny with seven games left. San Diego comes to town next week to begin the Bears' run of four games through the AFC West.  Lets hope they can keep this winning streak going.  

Let me know what you think, and as always, BEAR DOWN!