Bears and Lions In-Game Blog: Lions 34, Bears 17 FINAL

Analysis and reporting from Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams try to halt an eight-game losing streak with a Week 16 game against the 12-2 Detroit Lions.

D'Andre Swift is dragged down fighting for extra yards in Sunday's Bears game with Detroit. / Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Fourth Quarter

Lions running out the clock now. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!

• Allen diving over the middle to the 11. Then Arnold interferes with Moore but gets away with it for an incompletion in the end zone. A fourth-and-4 play at the 11 finishes the drive with an incompletion and officials talked about a flag for something but not sure what.

• GERALD EVERETT WITH A CATCH!!!!!! Tack on a late-hit penalty, roughing Williams after the pass. And Bears are at the 22.

• Williams now 24 of 35 for 320 yards and two TDs. He scrambles for a first down and tries to draw a late hit penalty but the officials aren't biting.

• Montez Sweat's hit forces a third-down incompletion and Detroit actually has to bring Jack Fox on the field and he shows he's not so hot punting outdoors with a stub of a punt that lands about 30 yards downfield and bounces. Bears start at their 38 with 5:36 left.

• Lions eating clock and the Bears decide to start calling timeouts. No one left here would mind if they decided to keep some of those timeouts today, the same way Matt Eberflus did on Thanksgiving.

• Boos for the Bears as they get a delay of game penalty and wind up back at the Detroit 42. Made it to the 17 and wound up back at the 42. They punted and at least Tory Taylor gets to pad his inside-the-20 stat with one to the 12. Not exactly one of his best efforts and the coverage was poor, too, but Lions aren't taking chances and take the fair catch.

• Third-and-6 for the Bears after they go in reverse following the penalty and they make it a third-and-11 when Jake Curhan, now in at left guard for Teven Jenkins, gets a false start. Jenkins came in with a calf issue. Lions sack Williams, Al-Quadin Muhammad, the former Bears defensive end gets it done. He had one earlier against the Bears in Detroit, too.

• There are 56,539 here today hoping for a Christmas miracle.

• Spectacular Allen leaping and diving catch on the sidelines for 22 yards and the Bears are on the move. They get the benefit of a Lions penalty when there are too many men on the field.

• Facing fourth-and-7 after a 5-yard dumpoff on third down, Williams lasers the slant to Allen for the first down. Can't stop that play when all your defenders are up showing blitz like the Lions did.

• Moore has the surest hands but he fumbles an end-around pitchout for a 4-yard loss to leave them in third-and-7 and then Borom gets a false start. Third-and-12 at their 26. One step forward, two back.

• Williams sidesteps the rush with a nice fake and drills it to Allen for a 19-yard gain. Offense making plays now against the Lions' prevent defense. Even Kmet gets found for a 7-yard completion.

• After an incompletion on third down and 3 to the corner, Tremaine Edmunds makes a diving pass breakup on a throw to St. Brown and the Bears take over at their 14. That's a case where Campbell needs to have better brains. Points are king there with a 20-point lead and a quarter to go. Now they're inviting the Bears to try and get back into it.

Third Quarter

• Detroit gets it on third-and-17 with a short pass to St. Brown and a run to the Bears 38. Lions running game churns ahead to the Bears 13, facing third-and-3. Quarter ends.

• First time today the Lions return team got the edge with a 35-yard return to the 40. A Gibbs catch and run netted a first down at the Bears 49, but Stevenson stops LaPorta for no gain on a catch and Lions are second-and-10 and Zacch Pickens with the sack of Goff.

• Rome Odunze with the back-shoulder throw beats Amik Robertson on the jump ball easily at the 15 for 30 yards on fourth-and-1. The drive goes nowhere and facing fourth-and-7 at the 12 they send in the field goal team with fans booing. Santos from 30. Lions 34, Bears 17

• Keenan Allen lines up offsides, way offsides, and Bears face second-and-14. The rush forced him to throw it away but he scrambled for 13 on the next down and the Bears are facing fourth-and-1 at the Lions 45. Not a good Bears down.

• Moore beating man-to-man coverage rather easily, catches a 17-yarder on the in-cut from Williams at the Bears 46.

• Goff with a 21-yard TD pass to LaPorta behind Owens, wide open. A five-play, 79-yard TD in 2:42. Lions 34, Bears 14

• Lions bring in an extra lineman and Jaylon Johnson gets mouthy with Lions after making a tackle. Extra blocker was Dan Skipper and he might have gotten away with it but then he hit the football to the ground.

• Lions at their 21 after good kick coverage from the Bears but Williams goes for 25 on a catch across the middle and they get into Bears territory on a Gibbs run to the Bears 41.

Second Quarter

It's a false start instead and he's going to let them try a 65-yard field goal. Nice try but off the mark and low to the right. Half ends.

• Goff gets them into range for a 60-yard field goal try with one second left. Of course the Bears jump offsides. Wow.

• Lions have third-and-2 at their 42 with 20 seconds left and still have two timeouts. Goff dumps one off for a gain to the Bears 47 with 11 seconds left so they can get into field goal range after using their second timeout.

• 58 seconds left and Williams finally hits Moore for a long gainer, then a 45-yard TD down the sidelines to Allen and it's Lions 27, Bears 14

• The Bears look unprepared and like a team mailing it in. Looks like the Trestman era team in 2014 after they imploded.

• Third-and-8 wide receiver screen to St. Brown and the Bears had it diagnosed. Somehow he wove his way through the crowd for the touchdown. Lions 27, Bears 7

• Braxton Jones' injury was his ankle and he's out for the game.

• Bootleg pass to the 6 for 14 yards but Owens gets a TFL on first down. Owens is a tough red zone defender.

• Not sure if they were actually going to run a play or not. It looked like they actually planned to run the play but Austin Booker is the dupe. As Goff is taking his itme calling out signals, Booker jumped offsides and gave them a first down. That was too easy. Someone always takes the bait for the Bears.

• Third-and-3 for the Lions at the Bears 27. Best chance the Bears have had to stop this drive. Gibbs comes up a yard and a half short and Dan Campbell goes for it.

• Plenty of running room for Gibbs on two straight carries to a first down at the 45, then they hit him for a short one over the middle and he breaks it outside for an 11-yard gain. Lions on the move again.

• On third-and-goal from the 1 after a Swift 4-yard run, the bring in Glaser to play the role of Doug Kramer and he actually reported eligible. Better yet, the play-action pass finds Cole Kmet (remember him?) for a 1-yard TD. A 14-play, 70-yard drive to a TD with 6:31 left in the half. Lions 20, Bears 7

• They work the bootleg to DJ Moore coming across the formation for 14 to the 5, first and goal, but Williams couldnt find a receiver and threw it high and OB which is a good idea to throw it away. However, he had no one near him on the rush and could have held it to see if someone else would have come open.

• Gerald Everett surfaces. Gets a false start for moving a nose hair.

• Giving thumbs up as he goes out on the cart. Borom comes in to replace him. Borom is a free agent after this season.

• Bears can't win for losing. A beautifully thrown and caught pass ot Odunze on fourth down for a first down at the 18 but Braxton Jones is injured and needs to be hauled off on a cart. He was grabbing at his left leg and writhing in pain. Maybe Jake Curhan gets in at left tackle. Probably Larry Borom. They wouldn't let him play last week but maybe now.

• Collin Johnson sighting! He dropped a pass over the middle from Williams. Maybe he needs to not be seen again for a while. Talk about waving the white flag! They give it to Roschon Johnson up the middle on third-and-8. He doesn't get it.

• Official called Bears for a "snap infraction." What kind of penalty is that? There's no such thing in the rule book as a "snap infraction." It was a pathetic snap though. Bears shrugged it off and a screen to Swift and run by Swift get them to Detroit's 38. Maybe Lions are losing interest.

• Deep ball nicely thrown to DJ Moore on second-and-7 but he was covered and pulled up. Then Williams threads the needle to Odunze for the first down and an illegal-hands-to-the-face penalty is agianst the Lions. So a 15-yard completion at the 47 and Odunze held onto the ball this time.

• This could get ugly. On the positive side, the Titans are tied with the Colts. Tennessee, another team with a worse record than the Bears, could be cooperating.

• Williams splits the safeties and uses his speed to go 82 yards straight up the middle for a bomb and a TD. Jonathan Owens trailing well behind on that one. Another situation where the Bears are hurt not having Jaquan Brisker. Stevenson initially had him and then Owens. Neither one was within 3 yards of him though, and then later they weren't within 5 yards. If you can't score TDs in the red zone, don't use the red zone.

• Good things happening on the Tank Board. Jets, Giants, Panthers all winning at the moment.

• A punt-and-pin of 42 yards by Tory Taylor, his 26th inside the 20. Lions starting at the 7. Taylor had a good punt considering the rush was nearly there.

• Matt Pryor called for holding after they had reached Detroit's 49. So another step backward. The Bears resorted to a third-and-20 screen to Swift that didn't go anywhere so they punted.

• They've already given up 52 yards on 10 carries to Gibbs. The defense has played good in the red zone as usual, stopping two of three trips without touchdowns, but it might be nice if they had some actual points to work with.

First Quarter

• This is unusual for the Bears to be down this much in the first quarter. Usually they wait until the second to get this far behind. The quarter ended on a 21-yard pass near the sideline to Allen.

• Craig Reynolds gets a handoff as they give Gibbs a rest and he lost a yard, but they face third-and-6 at the 16. Then they put Gibbs back in and T.J. Edwards knocks a pass down but Chris Williams deserves the credit for disrupting it because he hit Goff as he threw. A Bates 34-yard field goal and now the Bears can start moving it on offens because they're down more than 10. A seven-play, 44-yard drive after the turnover. Lions 13, Bears 0

• The Lions get a pass to Williams and two runs by Gibbs all the way to the Bears 21. First down in scoring range again.

• The replay is inconclusive, Lions ball. The Bears had been plus-10 in turnover ratio and what did it get them? 4-10. Maybe they'll go the other way today at minus-2.

• Two screens get te Bears to the Lions 40 but Odunze fumbled the second one at Detroit's 40 and Lions recovered after a 19-yard gain. They are looking whether his knee was down. It could have been but the angle on the camera is terrible. Branch forced the fumble according to the press box announcer but it looked like someone else caused it. Maybe Amik Robertson.

• Finally a positive for the Bears offense, a sprintout 11-yard pass for a first down to DJ Moore, but they follow it up with a terribly dumb penalty on Moore blocking on a 5-yard Swift run. One step forward, three backward.

• Hall-of-Famer Julius Peppers the sideline guest today doing the interview on the sidelines for the big screen. He went in as a Panther but had a big part in getting the Bears to an NFC championship game.

• The Bears defense is playing it tough but it was only a matter of time and Gibbs gets in on a third-and-1 run off left guard. Very close again to having his knee down but looks good. A 7-play, 36-yard drive in 2:53 after the Bears turnover. Maybe let the running backs carry it a while. Lions 10, Bears 0

• Gibbs with the 9-yard TD run but it appears he's just short on the replay. He was short but it's first-and-goal inches away. Gibbs fails to score on two straight runs after that, Byard and Stevenson with nice stops.

• Tyrique Stevenson drops a pick-6 on a wide-receiver screen after Detroit reached the Bears 13. Was an automatic score going the other way after he made good play sniffing it all out.

• That's why you give the ball to the running back on handoffs. First gave it to DJ Moore and he gets almost nothing. Then they tried to give it on a handoff again to a wide receiver, Rome Odunze, and he fumbled the handoff, giving Detroit the ball on the Bears 36.

• Scott gives them good field position with a 28-yard return to the 31. Then an offsides on Detroit makes it first-and-5. Good to see someone else committing penalties for a change.

• Mark Potash of the Sun-Times had an interesting and horrible stat before the game. Not only have the Bears been having trouble scoring early, but their last eight touchdowns were scored with a deficit of 11 points or worse. That's a flat-lined offense.

• Lions facing a third-and-3 at the 12 after two runs pick up a few yards. The red zone defense delivers again and Goff has to throw it away into the dirt. Bates kicks a 30-yard field goal. That's 14 times in 15 games that the Bears trailed first if you're keeping score at home. Lions 3, Bears 0

• Amon-Ran gets behind everyone for a 28-yard pass to the 19. Kevin Byard looked like he missed the coverage. It looked like Byard thought he had help but no one was helping. Then again, he is the safety so maybe there wasn't supposed to be help.

• Tyrique Stevenson and Jameson Williams involved in another sideline situation on the second play from scrimmage for the Lions. Stevenson appeared to shove him late and Williams was flagged 15 for taunting. The same two were involved in a situation in Detroit when Williams flipped the ball at Stevenson and hit him for a 15-yard penalty and later Stevenson got fined for the league after he wasn't penalized.

• Lions get 8 on the first run so appparently they aren't affected by the lack of David Montgomery or guard Graham Galsgow.

• Bears first drive same old story.

• Bears start at the 26 after taking the kickoff. They had Tyler Scott back for the kick. The first two plays went nowhere, gained a yard. A first-down pass to Keenan Allen near the side was there but Allen wasn't ready for it. Then on third down Williams had Allen come free after the play broke down but couldn't deliver the throw as he was trying to stay in bounds. So the Lions got it back at their 34.

Pregame

Temperature on the field prior to the game at 11:30 a.m. is 29 degrees with a 6 mph wind. Not good Jared Goff weather.

The rumor of Sunday is hardly a shocker but Tom Pelissero of NFL Network claims Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will "be willing to listen" to the Bears if they want to talk to him as coach.

Maybe the more startling information in Pelissero's report is about their stadium. Or maybe he was misspeaking.

"My understanding is Johnson is intrigued by the Bears job and is going to be willing to listen," Pelissero reported on NFL Network's pregame show. "There is a lot to like in Chicago with Caleb Williams, tons of cap space, extra draft resources, also a major market."

THE BEARS COACHING RUMOR MILL TRACKER

Then the topper, which he threw in almost as background, but if it was it's mistaken background:

"They're expected to break ground on a stadium next year," Pelissero said. "Team president Kevin Warren has a lot of connections around the league from his several decades in pro and college football."

Unless the Bears have located some unknown untapped cash resource, they're a few billion short on breaking ground with anyone.

The Illinois legislature didn't consider it and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said it's a "non-starter" relative to the money for a stadium at the south parking lot of Soldier Field.

The old Michael Reese hospital property south of McCormick Place on the lakefront is also being considered by the Bears but this also would require public funds for infrastructure.

NFL Network’s @TomPelissero reports that Ben Johnson is interested in the #Bears head coaching job. pic.twitter.com/IUu5YYMpfd

— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) December 22, 2024

The Bears are providing over $2 billion but estimates put the project up in the $5 billion range. They did get their tax situation cleared up in Arlington Heights but that didn't include an expenditure by anyone in Arlington Heights for a big infrastructure package. The Bears own the Arlington International Racecourse property but even that would require plenty of public funding for infrastructure.

#ChicagoBears GM Poles to @ESPN1000 Pre-Game Show on Caleb Williams development "the speed of the game at this level is tough. Look at his background coming in he played in one system his entire college career ... this was going to be a huge opportunity for him to learn a…

— Peggy Kusinski (@peggykusinski) December 22, 2024

In pregame warmups, former Jets guard Chris Glaser is lining up as the backup Bears center. Glaser has been promoted from the practice squad. What's interesting is how they don't have Kiran Amegadjie even active but Larry Borom is. If Amegadjie fell off the active list, why was he starting ahead of Borom last week?

With Doug Kramer inactive this is a real question.

Graham Glasgow being out for Detroit means either Kayode Awoika or Cristian Mahogany are up at guard for the Lions.

Caleb’s message to the team pregame: “Let’s get out there, let’s have fun, let’s encourage each other. Let’s come out with a win at the end of the day.” pic.twitter.com/FPVVWuV1Rn

— Marquee Bears (@BearsMarquee) December 22, 2024

Twitter: BearsOnSI