Five things we learned about the Lions in their 37-13 loss to the Bears on Sunday:

1. Consistency is still very much an issue with the team in all three phases, but especially on special teams. They have been up and down on coverage and they blew it big-time in the first half on Sunday when Devin Hester was on the field. He returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown and got a combined 40 yards on two other punt returns. It could have gotten worse but he was ill and didn’t play in the second half.

2. Matthew Stafford had his worst game since perhaps his rookie season in the loss at Seattle when he threw five picks. He was playing with a fractured index finger on his throwing hand, the wind was whipping which made passing an adventure and he didn’t get enough protection from the line. He was forced to make 63 passing attempts because of the large deficit from the get-go. It doesn’t seem like it but he did throw for 329 yards. That was overshadowed by the four interceptions. It all added up to ugly.

3. They added to their reputation as a dirty team when Ndamukong Suh ripped off Jay Cutler’s helmet in the second quarter. Suh wasn’t penalized, but he could be fined by the league. The whole big scuffle early in the fourth quarter was started because of Stafford trying to get away from the blocks by D.J. Moore by grabbing the back of his helmet and tackling him. Moore was ejected, Stafford wasn’t. Moore shouldn’t complain too loudly because admitting you were tackled by a quarterback might take points off the man card.

4. They miss the explosiveness of Jahvid Best who has been out three games with a concussion. Maurice Morris has been starting and he’s fine, but he doesn’t have the extra gear that Best does. Although on Sunday the running game didn’t get much of a chance to prove itself because they dug such a hole deep that had to throw the ball to try to narrow the gap.

5. Even though it looked awful and it was, the defense held the Bears to 216 net yards and only 64 came from Matt Forte. The Lions are still 6-3 and have a good chance to bounce back against the Carolina Panthers who were pummeled by the Titans 30-3 on Sunday.

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