DETROIT — Matthew Stafford tossed two touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions kept their postseason hopes alive with a 20-10 victory over the Chicago…
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford tossed two touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions kept their postseason hopes alive with a 20-10 victory over the Chicago Bears on Saturday at Ford Field.
Stafford completed 25 of 33 passes for 237 yards. Tight end Eric Ebron caught five passes for 33 yards and a score for the Lions (8-6), while Marvin Jones caught three passes for 85 yards. Darius Slay intercepted two passes to lead the defense.
Bears rookie Mitchell Trubisky completed 31 of 46 passes for a career-high 314 yards and a touchdown but was also picked off three times. Chicago running back Jordan Howard, who entered the game with 1,032 rushing yards, was limited to 37 yards on 10 carries. He also caught four passes for 26 yards for the Bears (4-10). Kendall Wright hauled in seven passes for 81 yards.
Slay intercepted a Trubisky pass in the opening minute of the second half. That gave Detroit a short field and it cashed in on Stafford’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Ebron for a 20-3 lead.
The Bears drove inside Detroit’s 10 early in the fourth, only to have Trubisky get picked off again by safety Quandre Diggs in the end zone.
Trubisky completed a 9-yard scoring pass to Benny Cunningham with 2:32 remaining.
The Lions led 13-3 at halftime.
Detroit settled for a pair of Matt Prater field goals from 48 and 31 yards out to grab the early lead.
Midway through the second quarter, Stafford rolled out and hit TJ Jones on a third-down pass from 3 yards out for the game’s first touchdown. Jones’ only other career touchdown came against San Francisco on Dec. 27,2015, during his rookie season. The score was set up by Stafford’s 58-yard heave to Marvin Jones.
Chicago’s Tarik Cohen had an 89-yard kick return wiped out by a holding penalty. Another holding penalty pushed the Bears out of field-goal range late in the half.
The Bears would have been shut out in the half if not for Theo Riddick ‘s fumble at his 27 in the closing seconds. Mike Nugent drilled a 41-yard field goal with two seconds left.
NOTES: The Lions were missing two starting offensive linemen, C Travis Swanson (concussion) and T Rick Wagner (ankle). G T. J. Lang departed during the game with a foot injury.… TE Adam Shaheen (chest) and S Adrian Amos (hamstring) were among the Bears’ inactives. S Chris Prosinski suffered a concussion in the first quarter.… Detroit has won nine of the last 10 meetings.… Lions QB Matthew Stafford became the first player to reach 34,000 passing yards before the age of 30. He needed 14 yards entering the game.… The last time Chicago won a Saturday game was Dec. 14,1996, against San Diego.… Bears RB Jordan Howard has 12 100-yard games since the start of last season, tops in the NFL.
