My biggest problem with this game was the play-calling on the four plays from the 1-yard line.
First off, you kick the damn field goal on 4th down. But that's been said plenty.
If you're going to play-action pass, you do it on first down. Maybe again on third or fourth, but there better be a run on the play before so that you can draw their defenders up.
IMO, the best short-yardage play is a quarterback sneak. There were players in both "A" gaps but it looked like the Lions DTs were in head-up 4 techniques on our tackles. Just enough room in our B gaps for Cutler to sneak in for 6, or just have him go over the top of the interior defenders who were bear crawling at the snap.
Here's my calls in that scenario:
1st down: Forte on an iso, probably shouldn't pull a guard given the penetration of the Lions
2nd down: QB sneak
3rd down: Play-action pass off of a stretch run
4th down: Forte again, but not same play as 1st down