They're probably not playoff-bound, but 28-13 victory over Lions gives Bears a jolt
It's always a bit funny when a player on a 4-8 team talks about being in "playoff mode."
Yet - bolstered by the Bears' 12-10 victory over Minnesota - that's the path tight end Cole Kmet went down last week.
He talked about a schedule that included "five very winnable games to end the season" and added "who knows what can happen at 9-8?"
This kind of talk seemed ludicrous, especially considering the Bears had never won two straight games under Matt Eberflus. Think about that: No two-game winning streaks, yet Kmet actually had the audacity to talk about a possible six-game run.
Well, while a streak like that still seems unlikely, the Bears did follow up that victory over the Vikings with a 28-13 win at Soldier Field on Sunday.
It was hardly a perfect performance, with the Bears bolting out to a 10-0 lead then stumbling all over themselves and allowing the Lions to go up 13-10 at halftime.
The 62,000-plus in attendance had to be thinking: Here we go again. Same old Bears.
But no. Instead, it was the Lions (9-4) who turtled in the second half.
"It's a big deal," Eberflus said. "It's been a long time coming - to win two in a row, and it's two division opponents. The guys are super excited, but we could feel this coming.
"The improvement was happening over time. I just kept telling them, 'If you keep doing right, it's gonna be right and good things are gonna happen.'"
The Bears held Detroit to 267 total yards, the fifth straight opponent they've held under 340. Jaquan Brisker racked up a whopping 17 tackles, Jaylon Johnson and Tremaine Edmunds had interceptions, and the defensive linemen racked up 4 sacks.
"They've been outstanding," said Kmet, who had 5 catches for 66 yards. "Credit to Flus to getting them going. Really besides the LA game (in Week 8) they've been really dominant. They're a top defense in the league and they've been showing that the last month and a half."
Offensively, it was a big day for D.J. Moore, who scored 2 touchdowns and racked up 88 yards on nine touches (6 catches, 3 rushes). Justin Fields threw for 223 yards and ran for 58 more, including an 11-yard TD on third-and-goal that gave the Bears a 25-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
After the Bears tied it at 13-13 midway through the third, the teams combined for three straight punts ... and a fourth appeared to be coming when the Bears lined up for fourth-and-13 at the Lions' 38 with 1:46 remaining.
Then, inexplicably, after Fields yelled out a loud, "HUT!" the Lions' Aidan Hutchinson jumped offsides.
"Helluva cadence," Kmet said. "I thought no way in hell are they jumping. They jumped."
And the Bears pounced.
Moore sprinted to the end zone, getting a step on cornerback Jerry Jacobs, and Fields hit him in stride for an easy score.
Kmet said the Bears did other little things at the line to make it seem like they were going for it.
"The line did a good job of selling the protection adjustment, and I looked out to Mooney to (make it) look like we were gonna switch routes," Kmet said. "They bought it."
Apparently, we don't want to play Kmet in poker, do we?
"No, you don't," he said, smiling. "You actually don't."
Well, if that jackpot wasn't enough, the Lions all but folded two plays later, losing a fumble at their own 29-yard line.
Moments later, Fields raced for daylight on third-and-goal and sprinted into the end zone with just his second rushing TD of the season.
Asked afterward if talking and thinking about the playoffs seemed a bit unrealistic, Kmet said: "It's not like we want to; we have to. Look, I'm not gonna act like we're not aware of what's going on. We have to run the table.
"We have been looking better, and I do believe in that. You see that on the tape, but the results have to come with that."
They came Sunday. But can they keep coming?
"We're gonna see, man," said DE Montez Sweat. "It's any given Sunday. We got off to a slow start, but I like the direction we're headed in.
"It's the NFL, man. The season is won in December."