The Detroit Lions suffered a frustrating loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday for a multitude of reasons, but Aidan Hutchinson is blaming himself most for his role in the setback.
With the scored tied at 13 in the third quarter, Hutchinson jumped offside on a 4th-and-13 play with the Lions' defense set to get off the field. With a free play, Justin Fields hit a 38-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore to capture the momentum. A 19-13 deficit for the Lions swelled to 25-13, and they would go on to lose 28-13.
After the game, Hutchinson was emotional about his gaffe. Typically more talkative, Hutchinson was sullen while blaming himself for the penalty prior to the touchdown.
"It's just a momentary lapse in judgment. I'm disgusted with it. (I'm disgusted) with that play and I think that play was just (used) to change the the momentum of the game. That's on me.
While Hutchinson was frustrated with the big error, he collected one sack and one pass defended against the Bears and was the biggest reason the Lions were able to generate any pocket pressure-as usual.
Aidan Hutchinson encouraged by Detroit Lions' defensive pressure
Though Hutchinson accepted blame for the mistake, he also understands the effort was not without some positives for the Lions to build on defensively.
After a rocky start, Detroit turned things around in the second quarter, holding Chicago to no points and frustrating Fields. Hutchinson and John Cominsky teamed up nicely, as they did at times last season.
Hutchinson liked what he saw at that point, but knows the Lions have to find a way to keep it up.
"I thought we were really rushing good. We really had them on their heels and yeah, we just got in a dog fight game in the second half where you've just got to keep getting stops on defense and they're getting stops."
Obviously, Hutchinson would like a do-over on what he sees as the biggest mistake of the day for the Lions. He'll get his chance to respond in Week 15, on the Saturday night primetime stage against the Denver Broncos.