Lions vs. Bears: Detroit falls on Thanksgiving in must-win
Second Quarter
On 3rd & 2, tight end Trey Burton caught the pass but Diggs forced a fumble with a great punchout and Lion linebacker Jarrad Davis recovered the ball and returned it for a few yards in the other direction.
After forcing the first turnover, the Lions had a bit of momentum and Lion RB Zach Zenner received his first carry and he took it for a gain of eight yards. Zenner gained a single yard on the next snap and on 3rd & 1, Stafford had to scramble for a bit but his offensive line held up for him and the QB hit Ellington for six yards and the first down.
After a Lion penalty, Michael Roberts came down with a four-yard pass but another Detroit penalty pushed them into a 2nd & 16. Wideout T.J. Jones quickly gained much of that yardage back for his team though as he gained 15 yards on his first catch. Blount got the nod on 3rd & 1 but despite a strong effort, he was held for no gain.
Detroit aggressively went for it on 4th & 1 and after Stafford’s pass was deflected by linebacker Danny Trevathan, Nick Bellore somehow came down with the miraculous catch as he kept Detroit’s drive alive at the Chicago 11-yard line.
On first down, a draw play to Theo Riddick seemingly caught the Bears off guard as he rumbled for seven yards and on the next snap, LeGarrette Blount found the end zone on an amazing second effort after it initially looked like he would be tackled, 7-0 Detroit.
The Bears moved the chains a bit as they opened their next series and after Daniel completed a pass to Burton, Quin came in for a strong, hard hit to stop forward progress. Strong tackling by Detroit’s defense pushed Chicago into 3rd & 13 but Chicago gained 29-yards on a pass to wideout Allen Robinson.
Deep in Detroit’s territory on 3rd & 9, Daniel missed his running back Tarik Cohen on a deep pass in the end zone and the Bears settled for a 40-yard field goal, 7-3 Detroit.
Bruce Ellington nearly fumbled on first down but the refs made the correct ruling and whistled the play dead since the ball only came out after Ellington had made contact with the ground. On 3rd & 8, Stafford tried his best to avoid the sack but rookie linebacker Roquan Smith sacked Stafford for a loss of seven yards.
Chicago got the ball back looking to score before halftime and after the two-minute warning, they kept their drive pressing forward. On First & Goal from the Detroit 10-yard line, Mizzell came wide open on a touchdown pass and the Bears promptly went for the two-point conversion and failed, 9-7 Chicago.
With less than a minute to go until halftime, Stafford slung a pass to Ellington for 11-yards. The Lions continued to try to get the ball to field goal range and on 3rd & 7, a six-yard pass was completed to Michael Roberts. Detroit took their last timeout with a second left and on 4th & 1, Stafford had no chance to make a play as he took his second sack of the game.
Detroit headed into the locker room down by only two points to their longtime rivals as the defenses for both teams clearly came into the game ready to put in work. The Bears were set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half in this tightly contested NFC North matchup.
During halftime, the fans in attendance were treated to a live musical performance by one of Detroit’s very own, singer-songwriter Mike Posner.