The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Trubisky throws three TDs in fourth as Bears rally for win
DETROIT » Mitchell Trubisky missed many targets, sailing some passes high and leaving other throws behind teammates — until it mattered most.
Trubisky, a Mentor graduate, perfectly lofted a 27yard go-ahead touchdown pass into the fingertips of Anthony Miller with 1:54 remaining and the Chicago Bears held on to beat the Lions, 27-23, on Sept. 13.
“We knew we weren’t out of it when we were down 17,” Trubisky said.
Detroit drove to the Chicago 16 with a chance to win on the final possession, and rookie running back D’Andre Swift dropped a pass in the end zone.
“What a break,” Bears coach Matt Nagy acknowledged.
On the next snap, Matthew Stafford threw another incomplete pass as time expired to complete the collapse.
Trubisky threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to help Chicago rally from a 23-6 deficit.
It looked familiar to Lions fans: Detroit opened last season by blowing an 18-point lead at Arizona and settling for a tie. That began a trend of blown leads and Detroit finished with a 3-12-1 record.
Trubisky, who held off Nick Foles to keep his job, completed 20 of 36 attempts for 242 yards with three touchdowns, including short passes for scores to Jimmy Graham and Javon Wims.
“He made some huge, huge throws, had some great moments,” Graham said. “The kid wants it. The kid believes.”
Stafford was 24 of 42 for 297 yards with a TD pass to T.J. Hockenson in the third quarter — and an interception that put Chicago in position to take its only lead of the game. He tried to force a pass to Marvin Jones that was deflected to Kyle Fuller.
“There’s plays we all wish we had back,” Stafford said. “I can’t turn the ball over in the fourth quarter, there’s no question about that.”
Adrian Peterson ran for 93 yards on 14 carries in his Detroit debut, just four days after signing with the team, and he plans to lead the franchise with his play and words.
“We can’t let this define us,” Peterson said.
The Lions are not allowing fans to attend their first two home games due to state restrictions on the size of crowds during the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a large expanse of empty seats and very little noise.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” said Trubisky, using words including “weird” and “eerie” as he attempted to sum up the atmosphere.
To fill some seats at fanfree Ford Field and raise money for charities, cutouts were sold for $150 and about 500 of them filled some seats beyond an end zone.
Sound was piped into the indoor stadium, but it was much more dull than a roar because the NFL is limiting how loud artificial noise can be during games. And when a player was injured and evaluated on the field, the sounds were cut off; the only thing heard was the venue’s air-conditioning system.
Up next
BEARS » host the New York Giants on Sept. 20.
LIONS » play at Green Bay on Sept 20.