Lions FG as time expires sinks Bears 19-16

Jared Goff led five scoring drives, Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired and the Lions regrouped to beat the NFC North champion Chicago Bears 19-16 on Sunday after blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Lions (9-8) started the final drive at their 37 after Chicago punted on fourth-and-5 at the 31. Bears coach Ben Johnson considered going for the first down but decided against it, figuring he had three timeouts and would probably get the ball back.

That didn’t happen, and Detroit ended a disappointing season on a winning note when Bates nailed a 42-yarder. A 26-yard pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown helped set up the field goal and Detroit came out on top after losing three in a row.

The Bears (11-6) stumbled into the playoffs with back-to-back losses, though they secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC with Washington beating Philadelphia. Chicago will host Green Bay in a wild-card game on Saturday night and would have home-field advantage in the divisional round if it beats the Packers.

Caleb Williams set the Bears' single-season passing record. Williams threw for 212 yards, giving him 3,942 this season to surpass Erik Kramer’s franchise mark of 3,838 in 1995. Chicago remains the only team without a 4,000-yard passer.

Williams threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as the Bears wiped out a 16-0 deficit.

The Bears hadn’t made the playoffs since 2020. But they won the division in Johnson’s first season after finishing last a year ago.



(AP Photo Nam Y. Huh)