Bears roar back into win column, beat Lions 20-13
Mitchell Trubisky tied a season high with 3 touchdown passes, and the Chicago Bears withstood a late charge by Detroit with Jeff Driskel filling in for injured quarterback Matthew Stafford, beating the Lions 20-13 on Sunday at Soldier Field to snap a four-game losing streak.
Detroit ruled out the 31-year-old Stafford hours before kickoff because of hip and back injuries, ending his streak of 136 consecutive starts. It was the first time he missed a regular-season game since 2010.
Chicago (4-5) got its struggling offense going late in the first half, scored 2 touchdowns early in the third quarter and hung on to win for the first time since beating Minnesota in Week 4. Detroit (3-5-1) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Driskel threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golloday with 5:53 remaining to cut it to 20-13. He led Detroit from its own 10 to the Chicago 25 on the game's final drive. But with the ball on 25, he overthrew Marvin Jones Jr. in the end zone as time expired on a play that would not have counted because of an illegal forward pass penalty.
Trubisky completed 16 of 23 passes in another solid outing against Detroit. It wasn't as good as his performance against the Lions last year in a win at Soldier Field, when the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft threw for 355 yards and 3 touchdowns, but it was a positive step for the struggling quarterback.
Taylor Gabriel, Tarik Cohen and Ben Braunecker each caught touchdowns. Nick Kwiatkoski set up a TD with an interception.
Driskel was 27 of 46 for 269 yards with a touchdown and interception. Matt Prater kicked 2 field goals for the Lions, who dropped their third straight against Chicago after winning nine of 10.
Held to 9 yards in the first half against Philadelphia the previous week, the Bears punted on their first four possessions before breaking through late in the half. They went 80 yards, with Trubisky hitting Ben Braunecker on the right side of the end zone from the 18 to make it 7-6 with 25 seconds remaining.
Chicago then scored twiece in the third.
Cohen caught a 9-yard swing pass for a touchdown after Darius Slay got called for interference trying to defend Allen Robinson. Kwiatkoski then intercepted Driskel at the Detroit 29 and returned it 4 yards. That led to an 18-yard pass from Trubisky to Gabriel in the end zone, and Eddy Pineiro nailed the extra point after missing his previous attempt to make it 20-6.
The Lions cut it to 20-13 when Golloday hauled in a 47-yard heave.
Bears linebacker LB Danny Trevathan exited in the first quarter with an elbow injury. He ran off the field with his arm dangling by his side after it bent awkwardly as he tried to sack Driskel.