Last week, the Detroit Lions got the one defensive stand they needed late in the game to hold off the upset over the Green Bay Packers. On Sunday, they had a similar opportunity against Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears. And even though Fields was giving the Lions trouble all day, the defense stood tall in the fourth quarter. Chicago punted twice, was pick-sixed once, and when the Bears needed a game-winning drive, the defense produced two sacks, spoiling Fields’ otherwise impressive day.
The Lions now have back-to-back wins for the first time in the Dan Campbell era and this was the team’s first road victory in two years. Here’s how it happened.
First quarter
The Bears offense took the field first, and Justin Fields immediately made his presence known with a 28-yard keeper after Julian Okwara got sucked in by the play-action. Chicago went runs on the first five plays of the drive, moving steadily down into the red zone. A holding penalty, and a nice Jarrad Davis (!!) pass breakup pushed the Bears back into a third-and-14, and Chicago ran a give-up draw up the middle and settled for a field goal. 3-0 Bears.
The Lions offense all went through Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Lions second-year receiver picked up a pair of third downs to start the opening drive. From there, the Lions started pounding Chicago on the ground with a 9-yard run by Justin Jackson followed by a 13-yard run from Jamaal Williams. But like Chicago, the Lions stalled in the red zone and kicked the chip-shot field goal on fourth-and-4. 3-3 tie.
Khalil Herbert kickstarted the Bears next drive with a kick return all the way to their own 49-yard line. However, another Chicago penalty put them behind the sticks, and a sack from Okwara set the Bears up third-and-14 at Detroit’s 44-yard line as the quarter came to an end.
Second quarter
Detroit got the stop with a nice pressure from John Cominsky and Okwara, and the Bears punted away for a touchback.
The Lions offense quickly got themselves into trouble with a batted down pass and a run for loss. However, Jared Goff found Kalif Raymond for a 22-yard gain. Detroit again found themselves behind the chains after an iffy offensive pass interference call on Trinity Benson, but Detroit quickly moved the chains again thanks to St. Brown. Goff then found St. Brown on back-to-back plays for 22 and 20 yards, setting Detroit up first-and-goal from the 10. An end-zone pass interference gave the Lions four shots at the end zone from 1-yard line, but Goff took a sack on first down, pushing them back to the 4. Detroit struggled, but eventually punched it in with a nice play-action fake to Brock Wright on fourth down. 10-3 Lions.
The Bears offense answered thanks to a couple nice plays from Fields. On the first, he escaped pressure on a third-and-5 and found Byron Pringle for the first down. Then, once down into the red zone, Fields somehow escaped pressure again on a broken play after Isaiah Buggs failed to bring him down. Fields scrambled into the end zone to tie the ballgame up with just 12 seconds left in the half. 10-10 tie.
On this play, DeShon Elliott was taken out of the game and put into concussion protocol. He did not return. C.J. Moore replaced him at safety.
Third quarter
Detroit opened the second half with three straight runs, but Jamaal Williams was stuffed on third-and-1 after several Bears thrashed into the backfield, giving the back no chance to convert.
Fields moved into Lions territory with a third-and-5 completion to a wide open Darnell Mooney. Chicago was able to pick up their own third-and-1 and a run to Dante Pettis, moving the team into the red zone. A few plays later, Fields found tight end Cole Kmet for the go-ahead touchdown with Kerby Joseph in coverage. 17-10 Bears.
The Lions next drive didn’t go much of anywhere. The complete drive was blown up when the Lions tried an end around to Kalif Raymond, but the Lions receiver didn’t appear to know the handoff exchange was…
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