Back-to-Back wins: Bears tame Lions

Jamie Sabau - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Sun Dec 10 16:48:27 GMT-04:00 2023

CHICAGO - No matter what happens from here on out, the bottom line for the Chicago Bears (5-8) is to show improvement. Well, Chicago has taken that to heart in recent weeks as they are improving and starting to become a team that no one wants to play. The Detroit Lions (9-4) are one of those teams that are happy not to see the Bears anymore, as it was a miserable Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field for them.

In their second meeting in a month, the Bears were looking to avenge a loss that left the Bears and their fans sick to their stomach as they dominated the Lions for 57 minutes at Ford Field. In the process, they picked off Jared Goff three times and held a 26-14 lead with three minutes to go. That was until the Lions scored 17 unanswered points to end the game and stole a 31-26 victory.

Facing a similar situation on Sunday, the Bears continued to dominate the Lions once again as they held a 19-13 lead entering the fourth. That is when their defense took over as they picked Goff off two more times while also stopping the Lions on several fourth-down plays. The result was the best win of the season, with Chicago coming out on top 28-13. Had they been able to win that first game, Chicago would be 6-7 and right in the mix for that final wild card spot with four games left.

With the Bears holding the No. 1 pick in next year's draft, there will be tons of tough decisions to make, and one of those will fall on Justin Fields, who will make it hard for the Bears to draft a QB. Despite his record, the Bears are at their best when he is on the field, and with 223 yards passing and 58 more on the ground, he continues to prove he can be a franchise QB. Fields continued to play well on the Bears opening drive by using his legs to open things off before Luke Getsy got creative with a direct snap to DJ Moore who took it in from 16 yards out for his first career rushing TD.

While the Bears' offense continues to play well, the defense has stepped up as they have forced 12 turnovers in their past four games, with seven coming against the Lions. A big reason for that has been the addition of Montez Sweat, who racked up 1.5 more sacks and continues to get after the quarterback. After the Bears defense forced a quick punt from the Lions offense, the offense went back to work using a 10-play 63 yard drive to move the ball inside Detroit territory.

Another first down run by Fields aided in that, but so did the massive 28-yard hook up to Darnell Mooney to move the ball inside the Detroit 30. An unnecessary roughness was assessed on that play, leading to 15 additional yards, but after Fields took a massive sack from Justin Reeves-Maybin, the Bears had to settle for a 46-yard Cairo Santos field goal but still led 10-0. One drive later, it was the Bears defense coming up huge once again as Goff was looking for his Tight End Sam LaPorta only to have Jaylon Johnson come away with his third interception in the past three weeks.

Set up with excellent field position, the Bears had a chance to put the Lions in a massive hole, but a questionable play call on fourth down led to a turnover on downs, and the momentum was about to swing in a massive way. Needing points in a hurry, the Lions were on the edge of field goal range only to have a gutsy fourth down play wind up in the hands of Donovan Peoples-Jones for a huge first down. A few plays later, it was Jahmyr Gibbs racing home for the score, but a missed extra point kept the Bears in front 10-6.

That drive awakened the Lions entire team as their defense with Aiden Hutchinson coming away with consecutive massive plays leading to Trent Gill punt. Even with Goff struggling against the Bears all season, when they needed him the most, he delivered, especially on a late first-half drive. The running game of David Montgomery and Gibbs helped get things going, as did another first-down completion to Laporta. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Goff found his man Josh Reynolds over the middle for the touchdown, and just like that, it was a 13-10 Lions lead at the half.

Getting a touchdown that late in the half was crucial for the Lions as they got the ball first and the potential to make things a two-possession game, only to punt it away on both of their opening drives. The same can't be said for the Bears as Fields found Mooney for another first down, which helped set Santos up for his second field goal of the game to tie things back up 13-13.

As the second half rolled on, the Bears defense continued to set the tone, but the offense changed the game with one massive play. Facing a fourth and long, Matt Eberflus chose to get aggressive and went for it close to midfield. Hoping for the best, Fields got the Lions to jump offside for a free play but got so much more as Moore got behind the defense for the 38-yard strike to put the Bears back in front for good, 19-13. Chicago went for the two, but came up short, but all was not lost for the Bears.

Goff fumbled the exchange one play into their next possession, leading to a fumble as TJ Edwards pounced on the ball to give it right back to the Bears' offense. Five plays later, it was another TD as the 16-yard reception from D'Onta Foreman set the offense up as Fields raced home for his second rushing TD of the season and first since week two as the Bears opened up a 25-13 lead.

In what was starting to look like a deja vu type of game when you consider the score and the first time these teams met, the Bears were going to make sure the result was different as their defense continued to get after Goff. Not only did Sweat, Gervon Dexter, and Justin Jones come away with sacks in the fourth quarter, but Tremaine Edmunds picked off Goff for the second time this season.

Throw in a pair of turnovers on down situations, and the Lions continued to shoot themselves in the foot as Santos added a fourth-quarter field goal to close out the scoring in the Bears' 28-13 victory. Although there is a lot of work to get done, the Bears are starting to play good football, and if their offense and defense continue to play this way, this team will be difficult to face down the stretch.

"Bears fans are amazing," Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said on ESPN 1000 after the win. "They are the best in the world. Bears fans came through today like they always do."

Fields led the team in running with 58 yards, but with Foreman adding 50 and Moore adding 20, as Chicago topped 140 yards in the game. Moore also added 68 yards receiving on six catches to lead the team, with Cole Kmet picking up 66.

"Now we know how good we can be." pic.twitter.com/UiwxYpDTL4
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 10, 2023

“We’re blocking out the outside noise and really just coming together as a team.”

Justin Fields with @Kristina_Pink after the second-straight win for the @ChicagoBears 💪 pic.twitter.com/wEFw29IgDP
— NFL on FOX Podcast (@NFLonFOXPod) December 10, 2023