OVERTIME: Bears 16, Lions 14
The Detroit Lions spoiled the day for the Chicago Bears when kicker Matt Prater booted a 32-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in overtime to give the Lions a 16-14 win on Monday night at Soldier Field. Detroit (0-6) has now lost 15 straight games, the second-longest losing streak in franchise history. The last team to lose 15 straight was the 1940 Cincinnati Bengals. The Bears (2-2) have now won three straight.
Ebron injured: The Lions’ first-round pick was banged up, and coach Jim Caldwell said he has a foot injury. Ebron was looking like he could have had a big game, despite catching just one pass on the evening.
“He got banged up at the end,” Caldwell said. “They’re giving him a hand. There was some damage to the area of the foot. He has an upper-foot sprain and a lower-foot contusion. He should be good.”
Denzel Ward’s debut: And just as Dan Quinn began with a cornerback tandem that both lined up at left cornerback, the rookie linebacker finished his rookie debut with an interception in overtime. Ward’s streak of 26 straight games without an interception ended after he nabbed Matt Stafford’s ill-advised pass that was intended for A.J. Green in the end zone. Ward returned the ball 40 yards, and teammate Rashaan Evans fell on it for the Bears’ first touchdown since Week 1. The Lions’ Derek Carr is the only other quarterback to ever have a streak longer than 26.
Levine suffers concussion: Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains suffered a concussion on Sunday. The Fox Sports report stated that they are looking into Head Coach John Fox and Fox’s son/offensive assistant Adam, as it was reported that John Fox started the week by yelling at one of the offensive assistants and then subjected them to a run-down.
Loss to Lions, Bears twice ‘down and buried’: Coach John Fox has spent the entire off-season encouraging his players to be confident against the Lions. Fox’s brash words appear to have provided enough of a boost to the defense to silence the rest of the Detroit crowd.
“We just have to find a way to fight our way out of situations,” Lovie Smith said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “We were down and buried in every game. You just have to find a way to battle back into it. You get turned and come back like it’s going to happen again. “And then the offense gets going and it keeps you in the game, you get down a touchdown, you get down and buried again. But the result is you go in overtime, and the other team can’t stop you either. That’s how close it is.”
Adjustments: There were adjustments to make, and there were adjustments that went awry. After starting rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who threw a game-high 21 passes, finished with only 147 yards, the Bears dialed up an uptick in the run game. Chicago rushed for 148 yards on 41 carries, which is a gain of 3.8 yards per carry, a respectable average. Quarterback Josh McCown, the veteran back-up, finished with 251 yards on 25-of-33 passing.
Early September not quite over: The Bears and Lions will face each other four more times this season, which could create problems for both teams’ playoff hopes. According to the Associated Press, the Monday nighter also marked the first time the Bears have beaten the Lions since Dec. 3, 2015.
Gladly handled: Former President Barack Obama’s first live interview since he stepped down will be with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. It was previewed on Thursday’s NBC Nightly News, when he and Maddow discussed his time in the White House and his policy accomplishments and failures, from taking the country’s policy in Syria in a more productive direction, and getting Hillary Clinton elected president, to ending the war in Afghanistan, to fighting climate change. It will air at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 8 on MSNBC.