Amid pressure, nightmare averted
DETROIT — As Cairo Santos sent a 28-yard field goal through the uprights while the seconds wound down Thursday afternoon, he saved the Chicago Bears from a bad week turning into an even bigger embarrassment.
The Bears didn’t need to give the Detroit Lions their first win of the season on Thanksgiving at Ford Field.
Not after Bears rookie Justin Fields injured his ribs and was forced to sit out. Not after a report emerged that Bears ownership told coach Matt Nagy it was going to fire him after the Thanksgiving game. Not after Nagy’s bosses left him to refute the report to the media himself.
Santos’ field goal in the final seconds lifted the Bears to a 16-14 victory over the Lions that snapped a five-game losing streak and ended a nightmare of a week.
Bears quarterback Andy Dalton, filling in for the injured Fields, completed 24 of 39 passes for 317 yards with a touchdown and an interception to lead the Bears to the victory.
The winning drive included a nice play on third-and-5 in which Dalton shrugged off pressure and found Damiere Byrd for a 13-yard pass to get to midfield. He hit Byrd again on third-and-4 from the 11-yard line — a third down that was shortened by 5 yards when the Lions were penalized for calling back-to-back timeouts.
Jared Goff ’s 17-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson gave the Lions a 14-13 lead with 1:46 to play in the third quarter.
The Lions got the drive going when Goff threw a 17-yard pass to Kalif Raymond and Bears inside linebacker Christian Jones was called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty for throwing
Raymond down at the end of the play. That got the Lions into Bears territory.
Goff completed 21 of 25 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns against a Bears defense that lost inside linebacker Roquan Smith to a hamstring injury.
After the Bears led 13-7 at halftime, they didn’t score in the third quarter.
Santos missed a 53-yard fieldgoal attempt on a drive that stalled in part because of Cody Whitehair’s holding penalty on thirdand-6 at the Lions 25.
Dalton led a two-play, 69-yard touchdown drive — a 52-yard pass to Darnell Mooney and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham — for a 10-7 lead late in the second quarter.
Amani Oruwariye picked off Dalton’s pass intended for Byrd in the end zone later in the quarter, but the Lions went nowhere on their next drive and gave the
Bears the ball back with 1:09 to play in the half.
Santos made a 43-yard field goal to end the half.
The Bears defense got off to a bad start but got a takeaway late in the second quarter.
As outside linebacker Robert Quinn took down Goff, Trevis Gipson punched the ball out and recovered it. Officials originally called Goff down, but Nagy challenged the call and it was overturned.
The Bears started Artie Burns in place of second-year cornerback Kindle Vildor, who struggled Sunday against the Ravens, including on their game-winning drive.
The Lions almost immediately picked on Burns. On their first drive, wide receiver Josh Reynolds beat Burns to catch a 39-yard touchdown pass from Goff for a 7-0 lead with 9:33 to play in the first quarter.
The Bears got to the 10-yard line on a drive during which Dalton completed a 33-yard pass to Mooney and a 17-yarder to Graham, who made a nice, low grab. But Dalton threw back-toback incompletions into the end zone on second and third down, the latter nearly an interception by Oruwariye before tight end Jesse James batted it down.
Santos made a 28-yard field goal to cut the Lions lead to 7-3 with 13:24 to play in the second quarter.
Smith left the game on the Lions’ first drive of the second quarter, briefly went into the injury tent and remained on the sideline with his helmet off. The Bears announced he was out with a hamstring injury.
Outside linebacker Sam Kamara was ruled out with a concussion.
Lions running back D’Andre Swift also went down in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and didn’t return.