The Lions defense came up with a critical\u00a0turnover\u00a0late in the fourth quarter to turn the tables on their divisional foe.
Chicago — Under Matt Patricia, the Detroit Lions had a knack for blowing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. But in Darrell Bevell’s first game as the team’s interim coach, they pulled off a rare double-digit rally in the final frame to stun the Chicago Bears on Sunday,34-30. “It’s amazing,” Bevell said. “I’m still on cloud nine right now. I’m not quite over it. These guys responded in there. It’s just amazing. There was excitement. There’s hugs. All that stuff going on in (the locker room). I couldn’t be more happy for them and how they played and for them to get that win.” After struggling to slow down the Bears offense all afternoon, the Lions defense came up with a critical turnover late in the fourth quarter to turn the tables on their divisional foe. Down three in the closing minutes, defensive end Romeo Okwara dove to knock the ball away from Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on third down. The loose ball was recovered by rookie defensive tackle John Penisini at the 7-yard line, setting up Adrian Peterson’s go-ahead,5-yard touchdown run with 1:37 remaining. “I honestly don’t remember what I did,” Okwara said. “I just remember the ball was there and I reached for it. I don’t know if I jumped. I’ll have to watch the film. I saw the ball in front of me and I tried to knock it out of there.” Coming into Sunday’s contest as the league’s 31st-ranked offense, the Bears carved up Detroit both through the air and on the ground in the first half, jumping out to a 23-13 lead at the half. BOX SCORE: Lions 34, Bears 30 And the 30 points matched a season-high for Chicago, but it wasn’t enough to snap the team’s losing skid, which extended to six. Bevell’s tenure got off to a rocky start when his first decision backfired. After swapping in Matt Prater for Jack Fox on kickoff duties, the Bears’ Cordarrelle Patterson returned the opening effort 45 yards, setting his team up to grab an early 3-0 lead on a 45-yard Cairo Santos field goal. The Lions looked poised to at least match the opening volley, but after driving in Bears territory, wide receiver Jamal Agnew was stuffed on a fourth-down, end-around call, giving the ball back to Chicago. The Bears turned the stop into six points, brutalizing the Lions on the ground. After back-to-back runs of 12 and 13 yards by Patterson, running back David Montgomery took a handoff up the gut, bounced out to the left where he stiff-armed safety Duron Harmon before extending the ball across the goal line. The Lions would block the extra point, leaving the Bears up 9-0 in the early going.
