DETROIT — The Bears ended their five-game losing streak with a late field goal against the Lions, beating Detroit 16-14.
Cairo Santos hit a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give Chicago the win.
After a dud of an opening drive, Jared Goff connected with Josh Reynolds on a 39-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 early.
The Bears got on the board for the first time when they had to settle for a field goal to make it 7-3 with 13:27 left in the second quarter.
The defense got the ball back to allow Dalton to connect with Darnell Mooney for a 52-yard bomb. The very next play, Dalton tossed it 17 yards up the seam to Jimmy Graham for the Bears’ first touchdown of the day.
The positive second quarter for the Bears continued when they recovered a Jared Goff fumble on a sack by Robert Quinn — who eclipsed 10 sacks on the season. However, the Bears were not able to capitalize as Andy Dalton threw an interception in the end zone.
The Bears’ defense continued to hold tall throughout the first half, setting up a Cairo Santos’ field goal to make it 13-7 as time expired.
The Bears forced a Detroit three-and-out before a costly holding penalty set up a Cairo Santo’s missed field goal with 8:43 left in the third.
The Lions finally got a drive together at the end of the third, capitalizing on a 17-yard Jared Goff touchdown pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson — which gave the lead back to Detriot.
After not a lot of offense in the fourth quarter, the Bears were able to take the lead thanks Detroit getting flagged late for taking back to back penalties. Cairo Santos was able to drill an easy field goal as time expired to put give the Bears a 16-14 win.
The win caps a hectic and confusing week at Halas Hall. Earlier this week, a report from a Patch reporter said head coach Matt Nagy was going to be fired following Thursday’s game. This set off a firestorm which led to reports of Bears chairman George McCaskey personally telling players that the report was not true.
The Bears look to get to 5-7 next week at home against the Cardinals.