Bears put end to 5-game slide with last-play win over Lions

Cairo Santos made a 28-yard game-ending field goal to give the Chicago Bears a 16-14 win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday.

The Bears (4-7) ended a fivegame losing streak under embattled coach Matt Nagy, who was answering questions about his job status 48 hours before kickoff.

The host Lions (0-10-1) made many mistakes, early and late, to extend their skid to 15 games going back to their most recent win nearly a year ago in Chicago.

Andy Dalton, starting in place of injured rookie Justin Fields, a Kennesaw High graduate, led the Bears on an 18-play, 69-yard drive that took the final 8:30 off the clock.

Dalton converted a third-and-5 with a 13-yard pass to Damiere Byrd to get the Bears to midfield. Detroit later helped out, giving them 5 yards on a penalty for calling consecutive timeouts without a play in between.

On the next snap, Dalton converted third-and-4 with a 7-yard pass to Byrd. With only one timeout left, which first-year coach Dan Campbell used to get his disorganized defense set up, Dalton was able to kneel to run the clock down to 1 second before calling a timeout to set up Santos’ third field goal.

Dalton finished 24 of 39 for 317 yards with a go-ahead, 17-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham late in the first half and an interception.

Jared Goff, returning from a one-game absence because of an oblique injury, was 21 of 25 for 171 with two touchdowns. Goff threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Josh

Reynolds on his first drive and a 17-yard pass to T.J. Hockenson late in the third that helped Detroit take a 14-13 lead that it simply failed to keep.

Dalton did not make many mistakes, but Detroit cornerback Amani Oruwariye took advantage of one of them when he stepped in front of a receiver to pick off a pass in the end zone late in the second quarter. Oruwariye provided some joy for Lions fans that need it, celebrating the interception by having his teammates sit in the end zone to be served imaginary food from the football.

Santos made his second field goal right before halftime to give the visitors a 13-7 lead.

Lions running back D’andre Swift, a former University of Georgia star, hurt his right shoulder in the second quarter and did not return.

Swift has been the best player for his winless team, leading NFL running backs in receptions and accounting for nearly 1,000 yards for an offensively challenged team.

With Swift’s first of three catches against Chicago, he joined Giants running back Saquon Barkley, Hall of Famer Marcus Allen and Herschel Walker as the four players in NFL history to have at least 100 receptions, 250 rushing attempts and 15 touchdowns over the first 24 games of their career.

Bears receiver Marquise Goodwin left the game with a foot injury, linebacker and Georgia product Roquan Smith had a hamstring injury and fellow linebacker Sam Kamara was evaluated for a concussion in the first half. Kamara and Smith did not return.