David Blough falls short in comeback attempt as Bears beat Lions
The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions on Thursday, 24-20, the second straight Thanksgiving that the Bears have beaten their NFC North rival in the annual holiday game.
David Blough, the Lions’ undrafted rookie pressed into service after Jeff Driskel and his injured hamstring weren’t able to go, made a strong go of it on Detroit’s last possession, with a drive that began on their own 17 with 2:12 to play and two timeouts plus the two-minute warning.
With 1:33 left, Blough found Kenny Golladay over the middle on third-and-11 for a 20-yard gain, extending Detroit’s hopes. Golladay had a career day, with four catches for 158 yards and a 75-yard first-quarter touchdown.
A pass for T.J. Hockenson initially looked like an interception by Chicago linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, but was called an incomplete pass.
The Lions got a big assist a few plays later, when the Bears’ Roquan Smith was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he tackled Ty Johnson out of bounds; Johnson had already picked up seven yards on second-and-5, so Detroit got 22 yards on the play, lining up with a new set of downs at the Chicago 27 with 51 seconds left.
But on third down Smith made amends in a big way, bursting through the middle to drop Blough for a sack, his second of the day. It was a 14-yard loss.
Blough’s fourth down heave, intended for Golladay, was intercepted by Eddie Jackson.
The Lions are now 3-8-1 and haven’t won on Thanksgiving since 2016.
Chicago upped its record to 6-6, making up a 10-point halftime deficit. The Bears tied the game at 17-17 with 4:44 to play, but the Lions went back ahead, 20-17, after a Matt Prater field goal with almost five minutes gone in the fourth quarter.
Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who’s been heavily criticized this season, was 4-for-5 for 81 yards on the nine-play, 90-yard game-winning touchdown drive, capped by a 3-yard score to David Montgomery.
Chicago has won three of its last four games, but still faces an uphill battle to get into the postseason: the Bears are still two games behind the 8-3 Minnesota Vikings, though the Vikings travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks on Monday night.
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