Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play and the Detroit Lions topped the NFC North champion Bears, 19-16, in Chicago 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 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 yard 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. The duo connected again for a 1-yard TD, and Williams went to tight end Cole Kmet for the 2-point conversion on a contested grab in the middle of the end zone.
