ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Jim Caldwell may not have wanted to call Golden Tate’s benching in the second half of Sunday’s loss to Chicago a benching, but the statistics show it clearly was.

The Lions wide receiver played 85 percent of the snaps against Indianapolis in Week 1 (55 of 65), 89 percent in Week 2 against Tennessee (70 of 79) and 87 percent of snaps against Green Bay (59 of 68). Yet on Sunday against the Bears, he played only 36 of 63 snaps and just a handful of those came in the second half.

Golden Tate had one catch for one yard against the Bears Sunday, getting just four targets and sitting on the bench for much of the game. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

So whatever Caldwell wants to call it -- a benching or wanting to give Andre Roberts more of a chance -- it was clearly a major dip in his usage.

Well, how has this worked for Caldwell and the Lions before? This isn’t his first high-profile benching, so let’s look back at this coaching strategy in other instances.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford against Arizona, 2015

The Lions sat him down after he threw his third interception in a 42-17 rout by the Cardinals. Stafford responded the next week with a 405-yard, four-touchdown game and has largely been a better quarterback after the benching.

Since then, Stafford has played in 15 games, completing 68 percent of his passes for 4,255 yards, 33 touchdowns and nine interceptions with a passer rating of 103.9. Considering that’s almost a full season of work, it would be Stafford’s best passer rating of his career, his second-most touchdowns and fewest interceptions.

In other words, the benching worked.

Running back Ameer Abdullah against Arizona, 2015

The big issue for Abdullah was fumbling and Caldwell benched him after two against Arizona -- one on a run and one on a kick return.

The immediate effect wasn’t great. Abdullah fumbled again the next week against Chicago but it clearly sent a message to him. Since his benching in that game, he’s been pretty good with the ball. He’s only fumbled twice and was better with ball security until he injured his foot in the second quarter against Tennessee in Week 2.

But Caldwell’s decision ended up paying off. Abdullah fumbled just once in the last 12 games.

Safety James Ihedigbo against Green Bay, 2014

The Lions sat Ihedigbo -- who was a Pro Bowl alternate that season -- for much of the second half of the regular-season finale against the Packers after he missed tackles. The Lions replaced him with Isa Abdul-Quddus. It was a move that surprised and frustrated him at the time.

Ihedigbo was back in the starting lineup for the playoff game against Dallas the next week and started the first eight games of the 2015 season before losing his job permanently to Abdul-Quddus. Ihedigbo struggled most of the 2015 season, but some of that had to do with age as much as performance.

Caldwell’s decision to bench him in 2014 paid good dividends early as he had seven tackles and a sack in the playoffs but overall the Lions probably should have gone to Abdul-Quddus sooner.