CHICAGO – Undermanned playing without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, and ultimately outgunned by Bears' signal-caller Mitchell Trubisky, the Lions dropped their second straight game, falling to the Bears, 20-13, at Soldier Field. The loss drops Detroit to 3-5-1 on the year.
The Chicago victory snaps a four-game losing streak for them and moves them ahead of Detroit in the NFC North standings at 4-5.
Stafford was inactive for the game due to a back injury suffered last week in Oakland. It broke a streak of 136 straight starts for him dating back to the start of the 2012 season.
Detroit played well early behind backup quarterback Jeff Driskel, leading 6-0 late into the second quarter, but that's when Trubisky and the Bears' offense would heat up. Chicago scored on three consecutive drives to end the first half and start the third quarter to help them ultimately pull away. Trubisky connected with tight end Ben Braunecker (18 yards), running back Tarik Cohen (9) and wide receiver Tyler Gabriel (24) for touchdown passes.
Driskel trimmed the lead to a single score with a 47-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Kenny Golladay with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Lions would force the Bears to punt on their next possession and have the ball with a chance to tie. They turned it over on downs, however, when Driskel threw behind Golladay on a fourth-down play.
The Lions had one more crack at tying the game with 1:41 left and needing to go 90 yards for the touchdown. They got as far as the Chicago 25-yard line.
QB comparison: Trubisky entered Sunday's game with an 80.0 passer rating and just five touchdown passes in seven games. He got on track against Detroit's 31st ranked pass defense. He completed 16 of his 23 passes for 173 yards and those three touchdowns. He finished with a passer rating of 131.0. It's just the second time this season he's finished with a passer rating above 100.0.
Driskel completed 27 of his 46 passes for 269 yards with one touchdown and an interception deep in Lions territory that set up a Bears score. He finished with a passer rating of 73.6.
Promising trend: Defensive end Trey Flowers continues his fine play over the last three games for the Lions. He recorded a fourth-quarter sack on Trubisky, which gives him a three-game sack streak, and increases his season total to five on the year, which leads the team.
Flowers finished with seven tackles, a sack, two quarterback hits and two tackles for loss.
Worrying trend: Opposing quarterback have been having a field day against the Lions' defense over the last month.
Detroit started the first five games of the season not allowing an opponent quarterback to reach a 100.0 passer rating or throw for more than two touchdowns in any contest. That was against guys like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz and Philip Rivers.
But over the last four games, the Lions have allowed Kirk Cousins (141.4 & 4 TDs), Daniel Jones (124.2 & 4 TDs), Derek Carr (116.2 & 3 TDs) and Trubisky (131.3 & 3 TDs) to all record passer ratings north of 100.0 and throw for at least three scores.
Injury report: Starting right tackle Rick Wagner was down on the turf for a number of minutes in the second quarter and was eventually carted off the field to be evaluated for a concussion. He never returned to the game. Second-year tackle Tyrell Crosby took his place.
Running back Ty Johnson left the game in the first quarter and was evaluated for a concussion. He too never returned to action.
Defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson injured a thumb, but did come back and play in the second half.
The other reported injury for Detroit was defensive tackle Kevin Strong, who left the game with a rib injury. He did not return.
Defensive tackle Mike Daniels, active for the first time since Week 3 because of a foot injury, left the game limping late in the fourth quarter.
Up next: vs. Dallas (5-3)
