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After a performance at New Orleans in which the Lions’ defense struggled, that side of the ball has improved for Detroit each week.

In Week 2, a few broken plays helped Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson break free for big yards and contributed to the Detroit loss. Last week, however, the Lions were able to contain Washington running back Clinton Portis, which was a big part in the team’s first win since 2007.

“That was the thing that helped us out the most,” said cornerback Anthony Henry. “For us to play consistent on defense we have to stop the run, which made them one-dimensional. They still had a clock situation where they could have run the ball because the game was still close, but they didn’t want to go down the field for 5 yards, 10 yards, 5 yards, so they had to try and take shots.

“That worked into our hand because we were rolling the defense and got our hands on some balls and stuff like that. So when we took the run away, we made them one-dimensional.”

Taking away the run has been one of the top priorities for Head Coach Jim Schwartz and Detroit’s improvement in that area over the last three weeks has been encouraging.

Now the Lions will have their hands full with Chicago runner Matt Forte, who is not only a good running back, but is a strong receiver out of the backfield. While Forte has 150 rushing yards in three games, he also has 73 through the air.

“He has great hands,” said rookie safety Louis Delmas. “As big as he is, he can play tight end. He’s very smart, very big and he has great eyes – he’s got great vision. They haven’t got their running game started up to speed yet, so we’ve just got to go in there and hit him. Hopefully he doesn’t get it started on us.”

THE REASON FOR IMPROVEMENT
Henry is just one veteran leader on the defensive side of the ball. The Lions also have defensive team captain Larry Foote, Julian Peterson and Marquand Manuel – players who have helped the team come together and improve the way they have been.

“It’s knowing what everybody else is doing and knowing where your help is going to come from,” said Henry. “All the plays that we’ve given up – whether it was a run or pass – have been because we missed a tackle or were in the wrong situation.

“I know a couple situations, I got out of leverage and the run got outside of me. We focused on that and it allowed us to play better as a team.”

Another area of improvement has been tackling – something that helped the team get off the field on third down this past week (the Redskins were 2-of-10).

Tackling has improved by running through the physical aspects of it during practice, but also being in the right place at the right time. Seeing sure tackling has been a positive considering the Lions have struggled in that area in previous seasons.

“I was talking about that with some of the coaches earlier today,” said Henry. “Knowing and trusting guys to be in a certain position so you can play your technique the way you should instead of trying to do something extra where you end up getting beat. That’s important for us to look at.

“A lot of times, you can do film study to scout a team, but you have to do self-scouting. You’ve got to scout yourself, see what you’re doing wrong to get an understanding of how the offense is going to attack you personally.”

THE POTENTIAL FOR EXPLOSIVENESS
This week, the Lions will be defending against a team that has the ability to go the distance with every play. Chicago has many offensive weapons including receivers Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox and tight end Greg Olson.

Throw in Forte who can run and catch and there are multiple options for quarterback Jay Cutler.

“I think it took a little time for him to get settled down (being a new quarterback),” said Henry of watching film on Cutler’s first three games with the Bears. “I think they’re starting to come together as a team, but I think we’ll be well-prepared for it.

“If we can get him to make some tough decisions, distract him and have pressure coming from different areas, I think that will benefit us a lot.”

Though the Lions feel they will be well-prepared, they aren’t ruling out Cutler’s talent.

“He has a very quick release unlike some other quarterbacks that take time to wind up their arm to get the ball the distance,” said Delmas. “Also, if he cuts his eyes and you’re not there, the person’s going to catch the ball on you. So you’ve just got to prepare for his arm and his eyes.”

Schwartz is more than familiar with Cutler having spent so much time in Tennessee. Not only did his team, the Tennessee Titans, study Cutler the year he came out in the draft, the coaches would watch Vanderbilt games on TV.

“He’s a guy that, No. 1, has a tremendously strong arm, but just has a great command,” said Schwartz. “Really smart; he’s a guy that can make a play even if everybody’s covered. He provides a completely different dimension for Chicago’s offense than what they’ve had in the past. They can open things up a little bit more; they can take a few more chances down the field.”

CUTLER’S EXPECTATIONS
As for what Cutler thinks of the Detroit defense, he says he is just going to wait and see what he’s given.

“(We’re going to) see how they start off the game and see how it goes,” he said. “They’ve kept everything in front of them, they’re very sound, they get to their drop zones and they fill their gap. So it’s going to be a tough challenge for us every week here and this is going to be no different.”

The Bears will undoubtedly try to open up their run game with the Lions this week – something Cutler says they are not worried about considering the situations they were in the first three weeks.

“We played the Pittsburgh Steelers,” he said. “They’re known to stop the run. You’re not going to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by running the ball most of the time. Last week we played Seattle there and it was just tough going. We made a lot of plays through the air.”