Lions hold on for 23-20 win as Bears mishandle final seconds

The Detroit Lions picked up an imperfect win, taking a 23-20 victory. The Bears' second half surge ended with an easy chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but instead found a way to mess it up.

The Detroit Lions snapped a six-game Thanksgiving losing streak with a 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday at Ford Field.

The Lions (11-1) won their 10th straight game overall and remain in first place in the NFC North. The Bears (5-7) dropped their third straight game and fell to 0-3 on the road this season.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed 21 of 34 passes for 238 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times and lost a fumble. Running back D'Andre Swift rushed for 62 yards on 14 carries and had one reception for 12 yards. Tight end Sam LaPorta caught both of Goff's touchdown passes.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams completed 19 of 33 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked four times and lost 24 yards on a sack-fumble in the second quarter. Running back Khalil Herbert rushed for 43 yards on 10 carries and had one reception for 10 yards. Wide receiver Keenan Allen caught seven passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

The Lions outgained the Bears 382-333 in total yards and had 22 first downs to the Bears' 16. Detroit also won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 33:04 compared to Chicago's 26:56.

The Lions scored on the opening drive of the second quarter when Goff hit LaPorta with a 10-yard touchdown pass to take a 10-0 lead. The Bears answered back on their next drive with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Caleb to Allen to cut the Lions' lead to 16-7 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

The Lions extended their lead back to 23-7 early in the fourth quarter when Goff connected with LaPorta again for a 13-yard touchdown. The Bears drove down the field again and scored on another Allen touchdown, this time from 29 yards out, to make it a 23-13 game with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bears had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but Caleb was sacked on fourth-and-4 with 2:50 left on the clock. The Lions then punted the ball away and the Bears got the ball back with 1:00 left on the clock at their own 1-yard line. Caleb completed a 25-yard pass to DJ Moore on third-and-4 to get the Bears out of the end zone and into field-goal range.

The Bears had a first down at the Lions' 44-yard line with 34 seconds left on the clock, but an illegal use of hands penalty on tight end Cole Kmet pushed them back 10 yards and forced them to use their final timeout. Caleb was sacked again on the next play, setting up fourth-and-14 with 28 seconds left on the clock.

The Lions were called for pass interference on the next play, giving the Bears a first down at the Lions' 25-yard line with 22 seconds left on the clock. Caleb completed a 14-yard pass to Moore on the next play to get the Bears down to the Lions' 11-yard line with 14 seconds left on the clock.

The Bears had one final chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion, but Caleb's final pass fell incomplete as time expired, giving the Lions the 23-20 victory.