Recap: Detroit Lions mount miraculous comeback, beat Bears 31-26

The Detroit Lions said all week they weren’t overlooking the 3-7 Chicago Bears, but a sloppy Sunday from Detroit nearly had them on the losing end of poor-played game.

A four-turnover day from Detroit found them behind 26-14 with just over four minutes left. That’s when the Lions offense finally figured things out. Two touchdown drives and a sack/safety from the defense made for an incredible finish to the game, and the Lions somehow squeezed out a 31-26 victory.

Here’s how it all hapened.

First quarter

The Lions won the toss and deferred, meaning Justin Fields would take the field first. The Bears quarterback got things going early with his legs, picking up 18 quick rushing yards on two plays. He also escaped the pocket and found D.J. Moore for 14, as the Bears quickly moved into Lions territory. Another Fields scramble set the Bears up first-and-goal at the Lions’ 5-yard line. Two plays later, the Bears punched it in from the 1-yard line and took a quick 7-0 Bears lead.

The Lions didn’t answer. Although they crossed over midfield, Jared Goff threw an interception right to rookie Tyrique Stevenson after Sam LaPorta’s route was stopped in its tracks by a Bears defender.

Chicago took over at their own 37-yard line. The Lions finally forced a third down—and a fourth down—but Fields found Moore for a 5-yard gain for the conversion. But Chicago would only go backward from there. Brian Branch tallied tackle for loss, and John Cominsky batted down a third-down attempt, forcing the first punt of the game.

Detroit avoided a three-and-out with a big 11-yard pass to Josh Reynolds on third-and-10, and that would be the last play of the first quarter.

Second quarter

The Lions offense got kickstarted by a 34-yard pass interference call on Jaylon Johnson, but then immediately went backwards with a holding penalty on Colby Sorsdal. On the next play, Goff threw the ball directly to Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds for his second interception in two drives.

But the Lions defense bailed Goff out. Cameron Sutton jarred the ball loose from Tyler Scott and Alex Anzalone recovered giving Detroit the ball in Bears territory.

After Jahmyr Gibbs picked up a first down on third-and-3 run for 14, the Lions were in the red zone for the first time. After a near pick-six from Goff, the Lions punched it in with a nicely-designed pitch to Gibbs for the 2-yard score. 7-7 tie.

After two failed drives, the Bears offense got back on track. Fields found Darnell Mooney for 24 yards into Lions territory. Chicago found themselves in another fourth-and-short. With 1 yard to go, Roschon Johnson picked up 5 to keep the drive alive. A critical play of the drive was on third-and-12. The Lions sent an all blitz and Fields found Moore, who broke a tackle attempt from Kerby Joseph short of the first down, and then managed to pick up 13.

Detroit would eventually get a stop out of the two-minute warning, forcing the Bears into a 31-yard field goal to make it 10-7 Bears with 1:47 left in the half.

With all three timeouts, the Lions had plenty of time to tie or take the lead before the half. Goff started with three straight completions, and then on third-and-2 found Jameson Williams for 12 yards to get down to the Bears’ 31-yard line. A screen to Gibbs shad the Lions first-and-goal at the Bears’ 9-yard line with 26 seconds left. On third-and-goal, Goff found St. Brown for a 7-yard touchdown and a 14-10 Lions halftime lead.

Third quarter

The Lions opening series got off to a promising start with a 20-yard rush from Montgomery right up the gut of the Bears defense. But that’s all they would get, as Goff was sacked on third-and-2 to end the drive.

Despite starting on their own 15-yard line, the Bears were able to cash in on the next drive. While it looked like the Lions had a defensive stop, on a third-and-15, Brian Branch was called for a ticky-tack illegal contact, giving Chicago a fresh set of downs. Detroit was eventually able to stop Chicago after a questionable play call on a third-and-11 (draw play). But Cairo Santos drilled it from 53 yards to make it 14-13 Lions.

On the ensuing kickoff, Craig Reynolds was hammered and fumbled the ball, giving the ball right back to Chicago on the Lions’ 40-yard line.

Fields made them pay with a perfectly thrown ball to Moore for a 39-yard touchdown and a 20-14 Bears lead with 4:41 left in the third quarter.

The Lions turned it over for the fourth time in the game on the subsequent drive. Goff third-down pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and it was picked off by Edmunds for his second of the day.

Chicago took over at Detroit’s 43-yard line with a great chance to take a two-score lead. Chicago drove down to the 23-yard line and faced a third-and-1 as the game moved to the final quarter.

Fourth quarter

The Lions defense got the stop on the QB sneak, and rather than go for it, the Bears took the points and held a 23-14 Bears lead early in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for Detroit, Goff took an unnecessary sack to start the drive, and they couldn’t recover from being behind the sticks. A quick three-and-out gave the Bears the ball back in a hurry. A great punt and a penalty set the Bears up at their own 9-yard line.

Chicago bled plenty of time thanks to another defensive penalty on third down (holding on Branch). After another third down conversion, the Lions finally got their stop, but not before Chicago ran the clock down to 4:15 left and extended their lead 26-14 Bears.

The Lions would quickly strike back thanks to a 32-yard bomb to Jameson Williams for the score with 2:59 left. That would make the score 26-21 Bears.

Detroit’s defense got the stop they needed, with two run stuffs and a Justin Fields deep shot that was too long.

The Lions took over with 2:33 left at their own 27-yard line with one timeout in tow.

A 15-yard gain by Montgomery kicked off the drive. He picked up another 12 on a draw play, moving the Lions into Bears territory at the two-minute warning. A couple more plays drew the Lions to the Bears 15-yard line with under a minute left. A draw play to Gibbs got them down to the 1-yard line with 31 seconds left. From there, David Montgomery punched it in from 1-yard. The Lions went for two and found a wide-open Sam LaPorta to make it 29-26 Lions.

The Bears attempt to tie lasted just a play, as Aidan Hutchinson sacked Fields and the ball traveled through the end zone for a game-ending safety. 31-26 Lions