The Detroit Lions were not the better team for most of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. The better team doesn’t always win, however.
The Bears learned that lesson the hard way in Ford Field. On a rough afternoon from both Jared Goff and the Lions defense, Detroit eked out just enough big plays to steal a 31-26 win from a game Bears team.
Down 26-14 with under five minutes to play, the Lions seized the victory thanks to two offensive touchdown drives nicely engineered by Goff and a safety on a strip sack by Aidan Hutchinson. The dominant final four minutes catapulted Detroit to a 31-26 win.
It was not pretty for much of the day for Detroit.
The Lions struggled at facets of the game where Detroit is normally very good. Jared Goff threw three interceptions and the Bears should have had another, too. The O-line protection was not up to par, either.
The run defense was also porous. There were missed tackles and blown containment assignments. The secondary was penalty-prone and blew a couple of critical coverages that led to Chicago points.
But in the end, the Lions made enough plays.
Goff stood tall and delivered a 32-yard scoring strike to Jameson Williams to close the gap to 26-21. Chicago’s meek subsequent series was easily snuffed out, giving Goff over two minutes and a shot at redeeming himself. Detroit methodically but quickly marched 75 yards down the field in 11 plays and just over two minutes. Former Bears RB David Montgomery plunged in from one yard out to give the Lions their first lead since taking a 14-13 margin into the half.
Aidan Hutchinson ended any drama by swatting the ball out of Justin Fields’ hand on Chicago’s next play, with the ball squirting out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The improbable win elevates the Lions to 8-2, while the Bears fall to 3-8.