Lions Week 13 pivotal play of the game: Romeo Okwara strips win away from the Bears

The Detroit Lions steal one from the Chicago Bears winning 34-30 on the help of this week’s pivotal play from Romero Okwara.

The Detroit Lions managed to claw their way back and beat the Chicago Bears 34-30 for their first win against their division foe in five games and first in the post-Matt Patricia era.

The Lions looked like a completely different team than they had in quite some time, with the energy each player brought on and off the field. Interim coach Darrel Bevell wanted the players with a sense of purpose while having fun, and that is exactly what they brought to the table today even though they were playing behind the entire game.

Bevell opened the playbook this week and allowed Stafford to do what he does best; sling the ball down the field. He attempted eight passes for 20+ yards even though he only completed three of those passes, two of them went for touchdowns — and that was without two of his main weapons, Kenny Golladay and D’Andre Swift.

Even though the defense looked sluggish the first half with missed tackles and porous run defense, they buckled down when the game was on the line and came up big when it absolutely was a must. After allowing 23 points in the first half, they locked up the Bears and only gave up seven points for the rest of the game.

The Setup

In the fourth quarter, after giving up a long drive led to a touchdown to put the Bears up 30-20, Stafford then threw an ill-timed interception that stalled the drive. It did not look good for the Lions’ chances to break the Bears’ curse.

The defense managed to dig deep and force a 3-and-out on the next two Bears’ drives, giving the offense a chance to mount a comeback. The Lions finally got back on the scoreboard, marching 96 yards down the field on a Marvin Jones touchdown: 30-27.

With the Lions still down by three, they needed to come up with another stop. Instead, they got something better:

Romeo Okwara worked his way around Germain Ifedi enough to reach out with his freakishly long arms to rip the ball away from Mitchell Trubisky — and the Lions recovered.

With the excellent field position, the Lions went back to Adrian Peterson and he scored his second touchdown of the game, giving the Lions their first of this game: 34-30.

With plenty of time still left on the clock, the Bears were on the move to mount a comeback, and once again, the Lions’ defense was able to come up big. This time it was Kevin Strong’s turn, as he stonewalled David Montgomery on a fourth-down, securing the Lions victory.

Emotions are high for everyone, especially after seeing this team come out lifeless the last two weeks. The energy and tempo have been missing from this team for quite some time, and for once, the players looked to be enjoying themselves.

The new Bevell regime has started strong, and they will look to continue this high ride next week when they face off against another division nemesis, the Green Bay Packers. There are a few areas they need to clean up to get ready for that matchup but they need to take this time and celebrate this high-flying victory.