Matthew Stafford sits with back injury, Detroit Lions lose to Bears 20-13
The Detroit Lions played without Matthew Stafford for the first time since 2010’s season finale, and lose their fourth out of five, 20-13 in Chicago.
Playing without their franchise quarterback at kickoff for the first time in over 3,000 days, the Detroit Lions had little margin for error on Sunday. Despite a valiant effort, another last-ditch comeback came up short.
Hobbled by a back injury, Matthew Stafford missed his first start since the season finale of 2010, snapping a streak of 136 straight, and the Lions came up seven points short for the second week in a row, losing 20-13 against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Jeff Driskel started in place of Stafford and finished 27/46 for 269 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
For the second straight game, the Lions had a chance to tie the game with a touchdown in the final moments, but Driskel’s incomplete pass in the end zone to Kenny Golladay wouldn’t have counted anyway, as he was past the line of scrimmage when he threw it.
Golladay scored the Lions’ only touchdown of the game on a 47-yard pass in the fourth quarter but had a handful of costly drops and a key penalty as the Lions were attempting to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. Marvin Jones led the Lions with 77 receiving yards on five catches.
Driskel led 12-play, 72-yard drive on the Lions’ first series, culminating in a short field goal from Matt Prater. A 54-yard bomb from Prater gave the Lions a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter.
The Lions forced four straight Bears punts to begin the game before Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky led three consecutive touchdown-scoring drives to give Chicago all of the points that they would need. After struggling for most of the year, Trubisky finished 16/23 for 179 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while being sacked five times.
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Running back Ty Johnson, offensive tackle Rick Wagner, and defensive lineman Mike Daniels all left the game for Detroit with injuries and did not return.
The Lions return home to face the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday, November 17th at 1:00 P.M. EST.