Bears Hand Over the Ball and Game to Lions, 34-30

Mitchell Trubisky loses the ball to set up the go-ahead points, then last-second drive dies in scoring range as Chicago falls into a tie for last place in the NFC North

The Bears didn't simply lose for the sixth straight time, they gave away certain victory.

They reached a new level of ineptitude.

Now the questions about job security for coaches, general manager Ryan Pace and just about everyone in Halas Hall are valid after a 34-30 come-from-ahead loss to the Detroit Lions Sunday at Soldier Field.

"This one, just the way it ended, we've been on the other end of so many of these and now to have a lead like this and lose this way, it stings," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "It hurts. They all sting. They all hurt."

The Bears knew how the Lions felt in the opener when they rallied from 17 down to win in the fourth quarter. Except this one is far tougher because the Vikings' win left the Bears behind another team in the playoff chase and teetering on the brink. And it happened after they seemed to have turned a corner on offense by matching a season high in scoring.

"I think you could feel the excitement on the sideline for our guys to come out and have that energy and be able to put points up on the board. I thought our guys, we did that," Nagy said. "On the offensive side of the ball, I felt like we were getting first downs and we were moving the sticks and we were getting touchdowns. That part was good.

"We knew there's gonna be games like this where we gotta score points. It's certainly one that hurts, and that's stating the obvious."

The Bears had the game under control with the ball at Detroit's 49, a 10-point lead and 5:30 remaining.

They found a way to foul it up. They gave away a game to a team they had beaten five straight times, one with several key players injured including wide receiver Kenny Golladay, and did it against a coach, Darrell Bevell, in his first game since replacing Matt Patricia.

Could the Bears be next in line for mid-season firings?

"Again, I don't get into any speculation on any of that," Nagy said. "What my job is to do is to make sure that each and every week I'm giving it everything I can as a coach and as a leader with these guys. I have to make sure that I do that.

"Any other thing that's a distraction, that would be taking away from our team. And that would be not good for me or them, so I don't even get into that."

Detroit started the Bears' downfall by driving 96 yards in a flash and scoring on a 25-yard Matthew Stafford TD pass to Marvin Jones, and then Bears couldn't even get to a punt.

Mitchell Trubisky got sacked on third down from his own 17 trying to protect a 33-30 lead. Romeo Okwara stripped the ball and John Penisini recovered at the Bears 7. 

"I just gotta take care of the football," Trubisky said. "We emphasize that as an offense but sometimes players make plays. You gotta give them credit for that. But I was trying to take care of the football and it was one those unfortunate situations. But it happens." 

Two plays later Adrian Peterson plowed through tackle attempts by Roquan Smith and Jaylon Johnson to put the Bears behind for the first time all day on a 5-yard TD run.

The Bears actually still had a chance to rally, as Trubisky drove them to the Lions 20 and still had a timeout remaining. Then Allen Robinson inexplicably came up short of the sticks on third-and-4 with a reception and David Montgomery got stuffed on a fourth-down run inches short with 11 seconds left to end Bears chances. 

"If you are telling me it's one yard and we are handing the ball to David Montgomery, my money is on him every time and our offensive line," Trubisky said. "It doesn’t matter what the situation is so, I think again, you have to give them credit. They made the play, we didn't. It's as simple as that."

The Bears' six-game losing streak left them 5-7, tied with Detroit for last in the NFC North, and is their longest losing streak since 2002 when they lost eight straight.

"Is this right now a difficult time? You're damn right it is," Nagy said.

It seemed like it would be anything but a difficult time when their running game revived and they had control.

They wasted a strong day running from Montgomery and Cordarrelle Patterson and even Trubisky in the passing game.

Montgomery ran for 72 yards on 17 attempts with TDs of 13 and 4 yards and Patterson had 59 yards on 10 tries with a 5-yard TD. Trubisky threw for 267 yards on 26 of 34 with a 11-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet.

Yet the defense couldn't stop Stafford as he threw for 402 yards on 27 of 42 with two other TDs besides the one to Jones.

"I think I was in shock a little bit," Trubisky said. "I thought we were pretty much in control the whole game. I was just in shock because I felt like we were going to win that one.

"We drove down and we were in control most of the game, they took the lead late but I just believed that we were going to down there and get a score. I was just a little shocked and disappointed, obviously."

When Bilal Nichols intercepted a Stafford screen pass in the fourth quarter as the Bears led by 10, it seemed just as over as it did later on when they also owned the ball and a 10-point lead. 

It wasn't.

"After a loss like that, it's hard to say anything," Nichols said. "We just gotta find a way.

"We're going through a tough time right now but you know it's on us to find a way to dig ourselves out of it."

There appears to be too much of something to shovel at this point.

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