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The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears may have played their Week 14 matchup at near freezing temperatures, but there’s little else that’s cold about the Lions-Bears rivalry.
That was on full display when Lions linebacker and defensive captain Alex Anzalone shoved Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney when he was already out of bounds on a play during the first quarter.
Anzalone drew a 15-yard personal foul penalty for the push in the boundary.
Other than a small scuffle immediately after Anzalone’s shove, the Bears didn’t retaliate on the field. But former Chicago scout Greg Gabriel did on social media.
“Anzalone has been a cheap shot player going back to college,” wrote Gabriel on X (formerly Twitter).
Gabriel has more than 30 years of NFL scouting experience. He work for the Bears organization for eight seasons during the 2000s.
Anzalone also committed a defensive holding on the play prior to his personal foul. The 20 yards in penalties helped the Bears move into field-goal range to take a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Alex Anzalone with a late hit on Darnell Mooney right in front of the Bears’ sideline,” NFL Retweeted tweeted on December 10.
Lions’ Alex Anzalone Receives Criticism on Social Media for Late Hit
Gabriel, who works as an analyst for SB Nation’s Windy City Gridiron, was hardly the only critic of Anzalone after his personal foul penalty.
“It’s time to ask if Alex Anzalone is a dirty player,” John posted on X.
“I used to admire Alex Anzalone and would have liked to see him on my team,” wrote Grumpy Not-So-Old Man on X. “After this game, my takeaway is that he’s dirty as hell.”
“Someone tell Alex Anzalone there’s a different between being physical and dirty,” posted Justin on X.
There’s no doubt that Anzalone is a physical player, which is sometimes why players receive the label of being dirty.
Early in the third quarter of Week 14, the Lions defensive captain displayed his physicality by stopping Bears running back Khalil Herbert dead in his tracks.
“Big hit stick by Lions Alex Anzalone,” wrote Dov Kleiman on X.
Lions’ Dan Campbell Sounds Off on Detroit’s Lack of Discipline vs. Bears
The Lions are about in the middle of the pack in terms of unnecessary roughness penalties this season. But they are tied with four other teams for the most roughing the passer fouls in 2023.
Overall, the Lions have committed 9 combined roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness penalties. Of those 9 fouls, Anzalone has committed 3 of them.
Officials flagged the Lions defensive captain for unnecessary roughness in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers. During Week 7 versus the Carolina Panthers, Anzalone committed a roughing the passer foul.
Interestingly, Anzalone has been a very clean player outside of the roughness penalties. The only other foul he has committed this season was the defensive holding versus the Bears.
In summary, when Anzalone has received a flag this season, it’s been for his physicality.
Anzalone’s penalties in Week 14 were 2 of 8 fouls Detroit committed against the Bears. That was the most penalties and penalty yardage for the Lions in a single game since Week 4.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell didn’t specifically address Anzalone’s unnecessary shove of Mooney. But Campbell sounded off on his team’s lack of discipline versus Chicago.
“I thought we played hard. I thought we did some really good things at times,” Campbell told reporters after losing to the Bears. “But honestly, it was the discipline.
“The penalties cost us today. That’s really the story of the game.”
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