Another team has accused the Lions of playing dirty, and this time Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is bearing the brunt of the blame.
When Bears defensive back D.J. Moore blocked Stafford after an interception, Stafford grabbed Moore by the helmet and threw him to the ground. Moore responded to that by getting up and running head first into Stafford, after the play was over. And even though Moore was ejected while Stafford wasn’t penalized, Moore insisted after the game that it was Stafford who committed the dirty play.
“If you’re going to grab my helmet and threaten my career, I’m going to come after you,” Moore told John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. “You have to do something. When you are going after my livelihood, my neck, and you’re trying to hurt me, I just can’t let that go.”
Several other Bears joined Moore after the game in ripping the Lions, but when Detroit coach Jim Schwartz was asked whether Stafford could face league discipline for throwing Moore to the ground, Schwartz insisted that that’s ridiculous.
“Discipline for what?” Schwartz said. “For their guy getting kicked out of the game? For their guy getting kicked out of the game? Did Matt get penalized? No, Matt did not get penalized.”
The Bears also complained about other infractions, including chop blocks from the Lions, and a pair of hits on Jay Cutler, one from Ndamukong Suh that didn’t draw a penalty and one from Nick Fairley that did. But it was Stafford throwing Moore to the ground that started a fight, and Stafford who drew the Bears’ wrath afterward.