Chicago Bears

Lions Beat Bears 20-14

Jimmy Clausen threw two touchdown passes, but a late touchdown from Joique Bell and an insurance field goal by Matt Prater gave the Detroit Lions a 20-14 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. 

The Bears got the ball to start the game, but Jimmy Clausen and the offense looked out of sync as they went three and out. Two short passes did little to get things going, and Matt Forte was stopped well short on a third down draw play as the Bears punted the ball away. 

Chicago's defense yielded two consecutive first down catches by Calvin Johnson as the Lions took the field for the first time, but things got better after that. Jared Allen made the big play of the drive as he sacked Matthew Stafford on third down, and the Lions were forced to punt. 

After the Bears went three and out again, their defense came out and looked like they made a big third down stop, but a flag on Kyle Fuller extended the drive. Reggie Bush took advantage of the new life for the Lions, catching a screen pass on fourth and five to get a first down, and he rushed for a 13-yard touchdown on the very next play to put Detroit up by a score of 7-0 with about five minutes remaining in the first quarter. 

The Bears' offense finally got churning after the Detroit score, and Jimmy Clausen found Marquess Wilson and Matt Forte for back-to-back first downs. A short time later, the Bears went for it on 4th-and-1, and a screen pass to Alshon Jeffery worked out for them as they extended the drive on the first down. Clausen found Jeffery for another first down to open the second quarter, but the drive ultimately proved fruitless as the quarterback threw an incomplete pass on fourth and goal to leave the Bears empty-handed. 

The Lions got their drive started in excellent fashion thanks to two more first down catches from Johnson, but the Bears' pass rush started hammering Stafford with alarming frequency. David Bass picked up a sack, and just a few plays later Christian Jones did too. That pressure may have forced Stafford into forcing a throw downfield, and the lofted pass was intercepted by Brock Vereen to stop the drive. 

After another Bears three and out, the Lions got the ball back and pushed their way deep into Chicago territory again. Stafford once again ended the drive abruptly as an underthrown pass was intercepted by Ryan Mundy, and the Bears took over near the goal line. 

[NATL] Best of the 2014 NFL Season

Alshon Jeffery made a couple of nice plays to get the Bears out near midfield, but the Bears' drive ended up stalling out as Michael Ola was whistled for a false start on fourth and three, forcing Chicago to punt. Fortunately for Chicago, Detroit was still in a giving mood as the punt bounced off their returner and Sherrick McManis pounced on it to give the Bears a new drive. 

On the very first play from scrimmage, Clausen rolled out and lofted a great touch pass to Forte, who ran into the end zone to tie things up at 7-7 just before the end of the first half. 

As the second half got underway, the Bears caught an awful break as Willie Young was carted off the field with an injury. They were able to force a punt from Detroit, but not before Dominic Raiola also stomped on Ego Ferguson's ankle for good measure. 

The Bears' offense started churning quickly as they got the ball for the first time in the half, with Jeffery and Wilson each hauling in first down catches. They were ultimately stopped by the Lions as Wilson dropped a pass on third and long that would've gotten them into field goal range, but Detroit committed another special teams error as they were flagged for roughing the kicker, giving the ball back to Chicago. 

Clausen quickly took advante of the mistake, finding Jeffery down the field for a 20-yard touchdown strike. The perfectly thrown ball was positioned where only the receiver could haul it in, and when Jay Feely booted through the extra point, Chicago seized a 14-10 lead. 

The Bears' special teams came up big for them on Detroit's next drive, as Matt Prater's field goal attempt was blocked by Jeremiah Ratliff to keep the Lions off the board. They were unable to take advantage of the chance to extend their lead however, and they were forced to punt the ball away. 

It looked like Chicago would escape with another defensive stop, but Tim Jennings was flagged for pass interference to extend the Detroit drive. On the very next play, Joique Bell carried the ball up the left side of the field and scored on a 17-yard touchdown run, and the extra point made it 17-14 Detroit. 

The Bears' offense once again stagnated on their next drive, but the defense did a nice job of hodling the Lions to a field goal with about two and a half minutes left. Down 20-14, Clausen attempted to run early on the Bears' next drive, and he drew a penalty when Ezekiel Ansah drilled him with a helmet-to-helmet hit. 

The penalty pushed the Bears further down the field, but ultimately a case of the drops by Jeffery cose the Bears. He dropped a pass on second down, and he dropped a surefire first down catch on third down. On fourth down Clausen threw the ball downfield, but he was intercepted, and the Lions secured the season series sweep over the Bears. 

The Bears will close out their season next week when they travel to Minnesota to take on Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings. 

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