Justin Fields’ sequel was almost as exciting as the original. But the outcome was just as bad as last week.
For the second-straight game, Fields and the Bears had a chance to march down the field in the final two minutes to win the game. They couldn’t, and lost 31-30 to the woeful Lions at Soldier Field.
The Bears inherited the ball with 2:21 to play and down by one. They ran six plays and gained a total of two yards. The drive ended when Fields was sacked on fourth-and-8 at the Bears’ 32.
The Bears blew a 14-point lead but regained it in stylish fashion. Suddenly facing a tied game after throwing a pick-six to Jeff Okudah early in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Bears quarterback took a shotgun snap third-and-2, faked a handoff and ran to the right behind tight end Cole Kmet, who had gone in motion from left to right.
He sprinted up the field. No one caught him.
Fields’ 67-yard touchdown run was the longest for a Bears quarterback in franchise history. He beat the record he set last week, when he ran 61 yards for a score against the Dolphins.
He gave the Bears a six-point lead. It remained that way after Cairo Santos missed the extra point.
After Fields’ 67-yard run, the Lions drove 91 yards on eight plays, scoring on a one-yard Jamaal Williams run with 2:21 to play. The Lions made their PAT.
Fields went 12-for-20 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and a 99.4 passer rating. His lone turnover was the pass that floated into Okudah’s arms and tied the game two minutes after the Bears boasted a 14-point lead.
Fields threw two second-half touchdown passes for Kmet, who has five in his last three games. The second was a beauty. From midfield, Fields and the Bears gave a hard fake handoff and rolled left. Kmet sold his block and slipped up the field and down the right flank — wide open. Fields lobbed a touchdown pass to Kmet, who was never touched.
Kmet gave the Bears their first lead of the game on a six-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter. After they went up two touchdowns on the deep ball, the Bears seemed to be cruising to victory. They were up 14 three minutes into the fourth quarter when rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn’s interception was negated by an illegal hands to the face flag on cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The Lions got the ball back at the Bears’ 9 and scored on the next play, a handoff to D’Andre Swift. Sixty-six seconds later, Fields threw the interception, his first in three games.
Before the long run, Fields’ most impressive gain of the game went only one yard. With 12 seconds left in the first half and the Bears down seven, Fields took a third-and-1 shotgun snap, pump faked, bluffed a run left and then right, and then took off to the left. He plowed into the end zone, leaving two Lions players injured and defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs wondering how he could have missed Fields on an ankle tackle. He ran 34.2 yards; per NFL Next Gen Stats, it was the longest a player has run during a one-yard touchdown since former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles ran 35.4 yards in Week 15 of 2016.
The Bears and Lions traded field goals to start the game. The Lions scored on their second drive when, on fourth-and-goal at the 2, quarterback Jared Goff found tight end Brock Wright wide open to the right for a touchdown. No other Bears defender was in that half of the end zone.
