DETROIT — With only an 85-hour turnaround from Sunday’s win over Minnesota the Chicago Bears jumped off of the plane in Detroit ready to squab. In one of the most entertaining Thanksgiving Day games we’ve seen in Detroit the Bears walked out of the joint with a 23-16 win.
Chicago got off of the bus with a 7-3 record and so much Chi-town swag it was dripping off of them. Their defense is one of the best in the league this year with the addition of Khalil Mack. He and the Rams’ Aaron Donald are probably the two best defensive players in the NFL. I still don’t believe that Mack is worth $141 million dollars but that’s for another day.
They were without Mitch Tribisky who was out with a shoulder injury so Chase Daniel got the start and literally held it down finishing with 27 of 37 for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those weren’t crazy numbers but he simply managed the game without making mistakes. When you’ve got a great defense you can afford to do that.
Even though the Lions came in with a 4-6 record they went toe to toe with a boy in the opening quarter as it remained scoreless at the end of the opening quarter.
Detroit finally went up 7-0 with 9:03 left in the second quarter. It was the first time the Bears had trailed in five games and at that point the Lions had nearly doubled the time of possession over Chicago. On the ensuing possession the Bears methodically marched down the field 11 plays for 65 yards to connect on a 40-yard Cody Parkey field goal to make it 7-3 Lions.
Chicago’s defense turned the Lions away on the following possession on a three and out. The cats from the Windy City walked it right back down the Lions’ throats as Chase Daniel hits Taquan Mizzell on a 10-yard touchdown pass with just 44 seconds left in the half to go up 9-7. They attempted a 2-point conversion and missed it. That’s how the half ended as the Lions couldn’t get points before the clock burned to zeros.
Detroit did an excellent job of neutralizing Khalil Mack as he didn’t record a tackle until mid-way through the third quarter. However, the rest of the defense held it down as they created opportunities for their offense down the stretch.
With 1:35 left in the third quarter Detroit’s LeGarrette Blount scores from 4 yards out to put the Lions up 13-9. They attempted the 2-point conversion and missed.
Then Chase Daniel hits Tarik Cohen on a 14 yard touchdown pass to send the Bears ahead 16-13. Detroit answers with a Prater 20-yard field goal to knot it all up at 16 apiece. As soon as the Lions started feeling good about themselves Mathew Stafford throws a pick six as Eddie Jackson takes it to the house 41 yards for the touchdown to send the Bears up 23-16 with 6:00 minutes left to play.
With a 1:07 left to play Stafford threw another pick trying to throw the rock out of the back of the end zone and just didn’t throw it far enough. Kyle Fuller comes down with the big play to pretty much end the game. At that point, the Bears put the game away with a first down to clinch the game. The Bears lead the NFC North with a record of 8-3.