Lovie speaks, Bears listen

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Updated: December 6, 2010 1:54AM

DETROIT -- Bears coach Lovie Smith isn't one to get caught up in extremes of emotion, but that didn't stop him from directing some well-chosen words at his defense at halftime of the team's 24-20 victory Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The Bears trailed 17-14 at the time, having just given up a two-play, 91-yard touchdown drive. After watching defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli lay into the troops on the sideline, Smith gave his own motivational speech at halftime.

''I don't remember what he said, but he had steam coming out of his head,'' nickel back D.J. Moore said.

Smith is a disciplined, civilized sort who doesn't slip into locker-room talk, even when talking to his team in the locker room. The closest he comes to swearing, legend has it, is uttering ''Jiminy Christmas!'' when fully provoked. There was no vulgarity or profanity in his words of inspiration, but the point got across.

''Everybody doesn't curse and do all that stuff,'' Moore said ''You can see on someone's face how mad they are or whatever. You can feel the words for yourself.''

Nobody seemed to remember exactly what Smith said, but he got his message across after a sloppy first half in which the Bears' defense missed countless tackles and allowed the Lions a whopping 253 yards.

''Oh, man, he was upset,'' safety Chris Harris said. ''He was very upset -- and rightfully so. We deserved to be yelled at. ... He told us we had to pick it up, that it was terrible defense. Not in those words, but as I translate it, he said we pretty much sucked in the first half.''Classic trap game

The Bears survived to laugh about it afterward, but for a long while, it seemed as though they were snared in a classic trap game, coming off an emotional victory last week against the Philadelphia Eagles and looking forward to measuring themselves next week against the New England Patriots. Missing tackles spread through the defense like a virus, but the Bears remained within striking distance against a team down to third quarterback Drew Stanton and playing without high-priced defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.

''A unit can have a bad day, and today we just had a bad day on defense -- or a bad half, really,'' defensive end Julius Peppers said.

Peppers said he noticed the crowd was late in arriving, but he dismissed it as a factor in the low-energy start because so many Bears fans were already in their seats.

Smith's pep talk helped the Bears regain their focus. And when the Lions opened the second half by recovering a Jay Cutler fumble inside the Bears' 10, the defense held and forced a field goal to keep the game within reach.Offense 'saved our ass'

The Lions twice tried to convert fourth-and-ones on a drive that started at midfield early in the fourth quarter. The Bears allowed the first conversion on a Stanton sneak, but on the second -- after a late timeout erased an offside call -- Stanton threw incomplete to prognosticator Nate Burleson with Moore defending.

''You are trying to win the game,'' Smith said when he was asked if he was surprised the Lions didn't punt at that point, considering they held a 20-17 lead. ''It could have gone either way. We weren't surprised. That was the game a little bit, though, on who converted that.''

The Bears scored on their next drive, then held after a long kickoff return to secure the victory.

It was the Bears' fifth consecutive victory and featured a strong performance by the offense to pick up the slow-starting defense.

''We are going to need that from time to time,'' Peppers said. ''I understand the defense around here has a certain standard that people expect, and that is to be solid each and every week. Sometimes it just doesn't happen, and we need our offense to pick us up. And they did.

''They saved our ass.''

Jiminy Christmas, watch the language.