Bears squander another game late against Lions
Lon Horwedel - USA Today Sports

Bears squander another game late against Lions
by - Senior Writer - Thu Nov 28 17:14:47 GMT-05:00 2024

DETROIT - From all of us at ChicagoBearsHQ, we want to wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving. As most of us were enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with the family, the Chicago Bears (4-8) had some work to do as they took on the Detroit Lions (11-1) at Ford Field. Looking to avoid a sixth straight loss after starting season 4-2, Chicago had their chances late as they had the ball in their hands and had a chance to knock off the top team in the NFC.

It has gotten to the point where the Bears just invent new ways to lose a game. Whether it be a hail Mary, blocked Field goal, or watching the Vikings kick a field goal to send them home in Overtime, Chicago just can't buy a win right now. Today marked a brand new way for the Bears to lose, as Caleb Williams took a sack on the game's final possession and, instead of calling a timeout, let nearly 20 seconds of time run off the clock.

The end result was a pass thrown into double coverage before falling incomplete, as the Bears ran out of time to kick a field goal and fell 23-20. This is just one of those games where you don't have the words to describe this feeling, as the Bears had every opportunity to win this game and could easily have been 8-4 and not 4-8.

Considering that the Bears spotted the Lions a 16-0 lead at the half, it goes to show how well they played in the second half, they outscored the Lions 20-7 in the second half, including 13-0 in the fourth quarter. This was one of those games that was a tale of two halves as the Bears not only didn't have a single play in Lions territory most of the first half, but they didn't have a single first down until late in the second quarter.

Credit the defense for keeping things much closer than they should've been. The Lions had several long drives resulting in points, three of them coming off Jake Bates Field goals. The lone touchdown of the first half came on the Lions' second possession, a 10-play 90-yard drive.

Amon-Ra St. Brown set things up on that drive with a massive 27-yard reception, which was followed by an 18-yard run by Jahmyr Gibbs to move the ball inside the Chicago 35. Gibbs played a massive role on that drive with two more first down runs which set things up for Jared Goff to find Sam LaPorta from three yards out for the first of his two TDs of the game.

That touchdown extended the Lions lead to 10-0, and they never looked back as the Lions led this one from start to finish. Leading 16-0 late in the first half, the Bears gave the Lions excellent field position after a turnover on downs and were on the verge of getting blown out by the break. Detroit was well on their way to doing that only to have Gibbs put the ball on the ground inside the 10 as Gervon Dexter came away with the fumble recovery to kill the Lions scoring drive.

Most of the excitement happened in the second half, and it didn't take the Bears' offense long to get going. After picking up their first first downs of the game late in the first half, that seemed to be the momentum the offense needed, as they looked like a much different team in the second half.

That was the case against the Vikings last week, as Caleb Williams threw for over 200 yards in the second half with three TDs. The first of those went to Keenan Allen, who had two catches for 49 yards on the Bears' opening second-half possession, including his 31-yard score to make things 16-7. Allen has really been coming around the past two weeks, and with five receptions for 73 yards, he continues to play well.

Immediately following the Bears' first points of the game, the Lions' offense responded, putting together another lengthy 11-play 78-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock. David Montgomery got the drive started with a 19 yard reception before several short-yardage plays kept the pressure on the Bears defense.

Jameson Williams provided the spark for the Lions with an impressive hurdle over Kevin Byard, leading to another 14-yard gain. This set things up for Goff to find LaPorta again to extend the Lions' lead to 23-7. Those would be the final points of the game for Detroit. Needing offense in a hurry, Williams continued to show he has no problem moving the ball with the game on the line, passing for 256 yards, including 232 yards in the second half.

It took Rome Odunze nearly the entire game to pick up his first reception, but after his 19-yard gain, the Bears' offense was already in business. One play later saw D'Andre Swift come through with his second reception of the day as he sprinted 25 yards inside the Lions 25. It was the first time in the game that Chicago had the ball inside the Detroit Redzone, and they didn't disappoint as Williams hooked up with Allen for the second time to make this a 23-13 game.

With the Bears offense starting to put things together, it would be up to the defense to make some plays, and they began to do that as Jake Fox punted for the first time in the game in the fourth. A missed field goal from Bates followed that as that was his first miss of the season. Looking to capitalize off that missed FG, Williams began to take over as his legs helped him pick up yards before a 14-yard hookup to DJ Moore had the offense in business.

Along with his 256 yards passing, Williams also led the team with 39 yards rushing as he continues to flash his potential. Facing a third and short for the Lions 31, Williams went up top for Moore and found his man for the third TD of the second half as the Bears pulled within 23-20. For the second straight game, Moore has had the hot hand as he finished with 97 yards receiving and a TD.

Looking to get the ball back one last time, the Bears defense made a massive stop, resulting in another Fox punt. Despite the punt being downed at the one, Chicago had a chance to drive the field to potentially win the game or, at worst, settle for another game-tying Field Goal try from Cairo Santos.

It didn't come easy, but finding Moore for 25 yards was a good start, as that play dug the Bears out of their massive hole. That connection was just starting as Moore hauled in a 14-yard first down a few plays later while Swift picked up 12 of his 39 yards on the next play to move the ball inside Detriot territory.

This was when the game changed, as a 21-yard first down to Moore was called back due to a penalty, setting the Bears up in a tough spot. With less than a minute to go, Chicago had the ball on the verge of field goal range, only to have Williams take a massive sack to kill the momentum. With time winding down and one timeout in their pocket, the Bears elected to let the clock run down instead of kicking a field in hopes of getting two plays in.

Instead, that decision backfired and it proved to be costly as Williams final throw of the game went incomplete resulting in another tough defeat 23-20.

With the loss, the Lions have ripped off their first 10-game winning streak since 1934, while the Bears have now dropped six straight games, four of them coming on the game's final possession.

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