TIRELESS LIONS WIN BY A FOOT
Prater’s late field goal sinks Bears
CHICAG O Matthew Stafford threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns, Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining and the Detroit Lions held on to beat the Chicago Bears 27-24 on Sunday.
Detroit (6-4) took the lead after Tarik Cohen had tied it for Chicago (3-7) with a 15-yard touchdown run.
Prater booted the winner after Stafford led a 42-yard drive to the 34. The Lions escaped with their third straight win when the Bears’ Connor Barth was wide right on a 46-yarder in the closing seconds.
Stafford completed 21 of 31 passes. Marvin Jones Jr. had four receptions for 85 yards and a TD.
DJ Hayden ran back a fumbled snap for a touchdown to give Detroit seven return TDs this season, tying a team record. And the Lions beat the Bears for the eighth time in nine games.
Chicago dropped its third straight even though Jordan Howard ran for 125 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell Trubisky faded after a strong start, throwing for 179 yards and a TD. His 19-yard scramble on fourth-and-13 in the final minute put the ball on the Detroit 43.
He then hit Dontrelle Inman with a 15-yard pass, giving Barth a chance to force overtime. But the Bears once again came up short after a rough loss to Green Bay that reignited the heat on coach John Fox.
Stafford threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to help the Lions grab a 21-17 lead.
Detroit trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and 17-7 in the second before charging ahead in the closing minutes of the half.
Stafford’s 28-yard touchdown to Jones with 5:17 remaining made it a three-point game. And his 2-yarder to a wide-open Ameer Abdullah gave the Lions a 21-17 lead with 20 seconds left.