During the Bears-Lions Week 14 matchup, Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone did not impress former Chicago Bears scout Greg Gabriel.
Chicago started strong, defeating the NFC North-leading Lions 28-13 at Soldier Field. Anzalone, who has started at linebacker for Detroit the last three seasons, did not have his best game. In the first quarter, the Lions’ LB was flagged for two penalties.
First, Anzalone was called for defensive holding on a third-and-4, allowing Chicago to gain another series of downs. Then, on the very next play, he was called for unnecessary roughness after colliding with Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney late in the game after the WR had run out of bounds. That is most likely what prompted Gabriel to criticize the Lions linebacker.
“Anzalone has been a cheap shot player since college,” Gabriel wrote on X, later calling the Lions defender a “dirty player.”
Greg Gabriel Wasn’t Alex Anzalone’s Only Critic Week 14
Gabriel spent eight years in Chicago’s scouting department before being released by former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo in 2010. He knows the NFL and its players better than most, having worked as a scout for over 30 years.
The former Bears scout frequently shares his thoughts and knowledge on social media, and he currently works as an analyst for SB Nation’s Windy City Gridiron. It’s telling that he wasn’t the only one watching the game and criticizing Anzalone for unnecessary roughness.
“All Anzalone does is go head hunting,” wrote the Irish Bears Show on X.
“One of these weeks we will see Alex Anzalone actually play football and not just cheap shot/late hit everybody he sees,” Jeff Mans, an analyst for ESPN, wrote.
Before the game even began, one fan pointed out that Anzalone had dove on Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who was already down, when the two teams last met in Week 11:You can see Anzalone’s late hit on Mooney below, which also upset the entire Bears’ sideline:
In Week 14, the Bears outperformed the Lions on both sides of the ball. With nine tackles, Win Anzalone tied for the team lead, but after coming from behind to beat the Bears 31-26 in Week 11, the Lions were outplayed on offense and defense in Week 14. Fields completed 19-33 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Chicago’s offense had 20 first downs to Detroit’s 13, and the Bears gained 336 yards of total offense to Detroit’s 267.The Bears defense performed admirably once again, recording three turnovers and 4.0 sacks while holding the Lions to 1-5 on fourth down.
The Bears have won three of their last four games. With four regular-season games remaining, head coach Matt Eberflus says the team intends to use the final month of the season as one big opportunity.
“It’s opportunity for us to put our best foot forward and be able to stay the course and being able to keep coming together and keep executing at a higher rate, and there’s a lot of things out there that we can learn from,” Eberflus said following the victory on the 10th of December. “We’re going to take the same approach, look at the tape, and try to make sure we’re looking at it correctly.” That is not all.
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