Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play and the visiting Detroit Lions topped the NFC North champion Chicago Bears, 19-16, on Sunday.
Chicago (11-6), which rallied from a 16-0 deficit in the fourth quarter, held onto the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs despite the loss thanks to Philadelphia’s loss to Washington. The Bears, who clinched the division the previous week, will host the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers on wild-card weekend.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff passed for 331 yards and a touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 80 yards and also caught a touchdown pass, while Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 11 passes for 139 yards as the Lions finished with a 9-8 record.
Following a Bears punt, the Lions drove 39 yards to set up Bates’ game winner. The key play was Goff’s connection over the middle to St. Brown, who spun out of a tackle and gained an extra 10 yards on the 26-yard connection.
Caleb Williams passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears. Colston Loveland caught 10 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears were limited to 69 yards in the first half, and the Lions grabbed a 13-0 lead.
Bates kicked field goals of 34 and 30 yards. St. Brown’s 30-yard reception set up Goff’s 15-yard scoring pass to Gibbs.
The Bears drove into Lions territory midway through the third quarter but Avonte Maddox intercepted a long Williams pass attempt in the end zone. Detroit then embarked on an 11-play drive which ended with a 25-yard Bates field goal to make it 16-0.
Chicago broke through during the opening minute of the fourth quarter on Williams’ 25-yard scoring pass to Jahdae Walker. Kyle Monangai rushed for the 2-point conversion to cut the Lions’ lead to 16-8.
The Bears tied the score with 5:25 remaining on an 88-yard drive capped when Williams found Loveland for 27 yards and the duo connected again for a 1-yard TD. Williams went to tight end Cole Kmet for the 2-point conversion on a contested grab in the middle of the end zone to tie the game.
–Field Level Media
