DETROIT — Aaron Rodgers matched a career high with three interceptions and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down from the Detroit 17 in the final minute, letting the Lions hold on for a 15-9 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in a matchup of slumping teams.

The Lions (2-6) ended a five-game losing streak.

The Packers (3-6) have lost five straight for the first time since 2008 when Rodgers, their four-time NFL MVP, was a first-year starter.

Detroit tried to seal the victory late in the fourth when coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth-and-3 from the Green Bay 43. Jared Goff’s pass was incomplete.

Rodgers failed to take advantage. He did convert a fourth-and-2 with an off-balance lob to Samori Toure, who fumbled out of bounds at the Detroit 17.

Rodgers, the two-time reigning NFL MVP, threw four straight incomplete passes to end a lousy game overall. He was 23 of 42 for 291 yards with a TD and had three interceptions for the fifth time in his career.

Goff was 14 of 26 for 137 yards with touchdown passes to Shane Zylstra and James Mitchell, a pair of tight ends that took advantage of an increased role after Detroit dealt standout tight end T.J. Hockenson to Minnesota.

Campbell desperately needed the win. The gambling coach made some calls that worked out and some that didn’t.

He went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Packers 7 on the opening possession and turned it over on downs after Goff was hit as he tried to complete a pass.

Rodgers threw interceptions in the end zone on his first two possessions. Kerby Joseph picked off the first one on a deflected pass and Aidan Hutchinson intercepted the next on a fourth-down pass toward left tackle David Bakhtiari.

Campbell made a call on Green Bay’s next possession that panned out, winning a challenge that overturned a Green Bay catch on fourth down.

Detroit took advantage, breaking a scoreless tie with Goff’s 1-yard touchdown pass to an elevated Zylstra early in the second quarter. Jamaal Williams ran for a 2-point conversion after a running-into-the-kicker penalty.

Goff threw an interception early in the third quarter and Rodgers gave it back two snaps later, getting picked off at the Lions 3 by Joseph again.

Rodgers responded with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard, but his 2-point conversion pass to him was broken up by Jeff Okudah, allowing the Lions to lead 8-6.

Goff gave Detroit a nine-point lead with his second touchdown pass, a 3-yard throw to rookie tight end James Mitchell.

Green Bay stalled at the Lions 7 on the ensuing drive and had to settle for Mason Crosby’s 25-yard field goal that cut its deficit to six midway through the fourth quarter.

INJURIES

Packers: The banged-up team took more hits: WR Romeo Doubs (ankle), RB Aaron Jones (ankle), CB Eric Stokes (knee, ankle), DE Rashan Gary (knee) WR Christian Watson (concussion) and LB Krys Barnes (concussion) were injured during the game. Starting LB De’Vondre Campbell (knee) was inactive.

Lions: Joseph was briefly evaluated on the field after he and CB Jeff Okudah collided with a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the fourth quarter. RB Craig Reynolds (ribs) was hurt during the game and starting WR Josh Reynolds (back) was inactive.

UP NEXT

Packers: Host Dallas on Sunday, and Tennessee four days later.

Lions: Play the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

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It’s time to recalibrate expectations to where they should’ve been from the beginning. The best thing that can happen for the Bears this season is to see steady, convincing strides from quarterback Justin Fields.

That’s the single most powerful determinant of their future, and it matters much more than losing 35-32 to the Dolphins on Sunday.

Fields set the NFL regular-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 178 and a touchdown on 15 carries. The only quarterback to beat that was Colin Kaepernick with 181 in a 2013 playoff game against the Packers.

Fields’ touchdown came on a 61-yard run, the longest by any Bears quarterback, in the third quarter to get the Bears within 28-25.

This is the reality of a rebuild. The Bears badly needed an overhaul, and that starts with a teardown. It’s hard to win during that phase, and the defense has been hit hardest by general manager Ryan Poles’ demolition.

When the Bears face teams like the Dolphins, who have a quarterback and other major pieces in place like Treek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, they’re going to be overmatched. It’s on coach Matt Eberflus, a career-long defensive specialist, to fix that as much as possible and make them respectable, but there’s low ceiling on what he can extract from this personnel after a parade of top talent left the building.

So when the Bears catch some breaks and make a few unexpected plays, particularly takeaways, they’ll compete and have a shot at pulling an upset. When they don’t, they’ll get blown out like they did against the Cowboys last week.

The standard for any team in any sport is to be contending for a championship or clearly headed toward doing so. In the Bears’ case, if Fields is headed the right direction, so are they. The rest of the roster is just details.

In addition to his big rushing numbers, Fields completed 17 of 28 passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns.

Heading in the right direction doesn’t guarantee someone will arrive at the destination. There’s always concern about stoplights, flat tires and wrong turns. Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy started out on course before hitting a variety of snafus and eventually blowing the engine.

That’s what general manager Ryan Poles inherited. He’s trying to convert a Flintstones car into a Ferrari.

The only thing that can be legitimately evaluated at this point is whether his first few steps make sense. There were hits and misses over his first several months, but the Bears seem to have settled into the right spot. Poles finished cleaning up what he deemed to be Pace’s mess by trading Roquan Smith, then made his first big move toward actual construction by bringing in wide receiver Chase Claypool.

Now the Bears look like one of those fun upstart teams. That’s a good place to be. Those teams are fun to watch as they take their shot each week and gradually grow together into something that offers hope for the next season.

It’s been a while since the Bears provided hope, as well as entertaining Sundays, and they can thank Fields for that.

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Georgia tightened its hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, with TCU climbing up to No. 4 and Alabama dropping all the way to No. 10.

The Bulldogs had their strongest support of the season after manhandling Tennessee in a 1-2 matchup on Saturday. Georgia received 62 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank.

No. 2 Ohio State got the other first-place vote. Michigan moved up a spot to No. 3 and TCU jumped three spots to its highest ranking since late in the 2017 season.

No. 5 Tennessee fell three spots after losing on the road to the defending national champions.

For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, Alabama and Clemson lost on the same day and both tumbled in the rankings. The Crimson Tide (7-2) fell to LSU by a point in overtime to end up at No. 10 — their worst ranking since 2015.

LSU jumped eight spots to No. 7, the Tigers’ best ranking since they started No. 6 in 2020. That was when they stumbled out of the gate a season after winning the national title.

Oregon reached a season-high No. 6 and Pac-12 rivals No. 8 Southern California and No. 9 UCLA finished out the top 10.

Clemson fell seven spots to a season-low No. 12 after losing to Notre Dame. Last year, the Tigers fell all the way out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2011.

POLL POINTS

Alabama held on to its top-10 ranking and its streak of weeks ranked in the top 10. The Crimson Tide has a streak of 120 straight polls ranked no worse than 10. That is the second longest such streak in the history of AP poll, behind Miami (1985-93).

IN

— No. 18 Texas has yo-yo’d back into the rankings this week and still has a chance to win the Big 12.

— No. 20 Notre Dame went from preseason No. 5 to unranked by Week 3. After taking a circuitous road, the Fighting Irish are back to being ranked.

— No. 24 Washington had a moment in September, then stumbled on the road. The Huskies are real tough at home and that’s been good enough.

— No. 25 Florida State was ranked for a week in October before a three-game losing streak. The Seminoles might stick around this time.

OUT

— Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Syracuse and Wake Forest departed the rankings after absorbing second straight losses. The Demon Deacons are unranked for the first time this season.

— Oklahoma State is also out of the Top 25 for the first time this season.

— Oregon State had a one-week stay after breaking a nine-season Top 25 drought.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 5, 7, 10, 11).

Pac-12 — 5 (Nos. 6, 8, 9, 13, 24).

ACC — 4 (Nos. 12, 15, 17, 25).

Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 3, 14, 21).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 18, 23).

American — 2 (Nos. 16, 22).

Independents — 2 (Nos. 19, 20).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 10 Alabama at No. 11 Mississippi.

No. 24 Washington at No. 6 Oregon.

No. 4 TCU at No. 18 Texas.

No. 22 UCF at No. 16 Tulane.

THE TOP 25

1. Georgia (62 first-place votes) 9-0

2. Ohio St. (1) 9-0

3. Michigan 9-0

4. TCU 9-0

5. Tennessee 8-1

6. Oregon 8-1

7. LSU 7-2

8. Southern Cal 8-1

9. UCLA 8-1

10. Alabama 7-2

11. Mississippi 8-1

12. Clemson 8-1

13. Utah 7-2

14. Penn St. 7-2

15. North Carolina 8-1

16. Tulane 8-1

17. NC State 7-2

18. Texas 6-3

19. Liberty 8-1

20. Notre Dame 6-3

21. Illinois 7-2

22. UCF 7-2

23. Kansas St. 6-3

24. Washington 7-2

25. Florida St. 6-3

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This late in the season all the preseason hype and predictions and bold statements have usually faded away.

But one fact has stuck in my mind since August: This is the biggest offensive line in Chad Hetlet’s 16 seasons at Glenbard West.

The Hilltoppers excel at producing Power Five linemen, so that was a major declaration. The massive offensive line, led by Wisconsin recruit Chris Terek (6-6, 295 pounds) helped Glenbard West to a dominant 42-0 win against Glenbrook South in the second round.

Hilltoppers running back Julius Ellens ran for five touchdowns and 312 yards against the Titans.

The victory gave Glenbard West its first quarterfinal appearance since 2016. It’s been a banner playoff run for the West Suburban Silver, which has three teams in the Class 8A quarterfinals. Undefeated York will host Palatine and Lyons will play at Loyola.

“I know we’ve gotten a bad rap of not representing in the playoffs,” York coach Mike Fitzgerald said. “But I think a lot of that too is you get beat up throughout the season.You’ve got to bring it every week.”

The Dukes knocked off Marist in an overtime thriller in the second round. Glenbard West knocked off the RedHawks earlier in the season.

“Our conference is incredibly challenging this year,” York quarterback Matt Vezza said. It shows we can compete with a conference like the CCL Blue.”

Record setter

Tyler Vasey’s assault on the record books continues. The Prairie Ridge quarterback ran for 279 yards and seven touchdowns against Kaneland in the second round. He had rushed for more than 300 yards in the three previous games.

Vasey has 3,114 yards so far this season. That’s already the fourth-best season in state history. The three players still ahead of Vasey on the list are Sean Dunning of St. Teresa, who had 3,127 yards in 2005, Glenbard North’s Justin Jackson with 3,171 in 2013 and TJ Stinde of Lexington who holds the state record with 3,325 yards in 2009.

Bulldogs are back?

The DuKane conference teams beat up on each other a bit this season. St. Charles North was undefeated in the conference but lost to Palatine in Week 1. Those factors kept a DuKane team from top-five status in the Super 25 for most of the year.

But it was always clear that the North Stars, Batavia and Wheaton North were among the area’s best threats to win the Class 7A state title. Geneva also put together a solid season.

The Bulldogs had the most preseason hype but had a challenging start to the season with road losses at Lincoln-Way East and Wheaton North. Then St. Charles North beat Batavia in a one-point game in Week 9.

The hype around the Bulldogs had totally faded away. It’s back. Linebacker/running back Tyler Jansey led Batavia to an overtime win against undefeated Hersey in the second round and it appears the Bulldogs are finally clicking. Drew Gerke had an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the game.

Batavia will be heavily favored in its quarterfinal matchup against visiting Yorkville and is a good bet to reach Champaign for the state title game.

Public League update

Simeon, the Public League’s best team, lost to Crete-Monee in a fun one on Saturday but it wasn’t all bad news for CPS football teams.

Morgan Park shut out Payton and will travel to LaGrange Park for a Class 5A quarterfinal against Nazareth. That game is a toss-up.

Kenwood earned its best win of the season, knocking off a good Bremen squad 36-6. The Broncos are heavy underdogs on the road against Lemont in the Class 6A quarterfinals.

Contributing: Mike Clark

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The Bears’ defense is going to be outmanned virtually every week, especially after unloading Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith, and that’s certainly been a problem against the Dolphins.

Despite doing all they can to control time of possession, the Bears went into halftime trailing 21-17. Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders missed a 29-yard field goal with seven seconds left.

Quarterback Justin Fields is playing another efficient game and has completed 11 of 15 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns for an 128.9 passer rating. He also has run six times for 54 yards.

The Dolphins took control when linebacker Jaelan Phillips blocked a punt in the middle of the second quarter and Andrew Van Ginkel scooped it up for 25-yard touchdown return to put Miami up 21-10.

New wide receiver Chase Claypool made his debut on the third snap and got four targets in the first quarter. He caught two passes for 13 yards on four targets in the first half. He also drew a 28-yard pass-interference penalty.With Claypool active, the Bears benched rookie wide receiver Velus Jones, their third-round draft pick. Jones had his best game of the season last week with 38 yards of total offense and is not injured.

The Bears also lost starting cornerback Kindle Vildor. He injured his ankle on a deep pass to Tyreek Hill in the first quarter in which he committed pass interference and gave the Dolphins first-and-goal the 1-yard line. He is questionable to return.

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It’s been a terrific two weeks of playoff football. The lack of major upsets has given us fantastic matchups to watch and that has continued into the quarterfinals.

Four new teams join the rankings after winning in the second round. Palatine makes its season debut. Lyons, Morgan Park and Nazareth all return.

Wheaton North drops out, which was my toughest decision of the week. The Falcons had a tremendous season and will have a decent shot at making the season’s final Super 25. I wanted to make room this week for most of the teams that were still playing in the larger classes. Yorkville didn’t get the nod despite advancing to the Class 7A quarterfinals. St. Ignatius is the other team in a big school quarterfinal that is missing. There just wasn’t enough room.

Plainfield North and South Elgin also drop out. Both teams dominated in their conferences this season but had rough outings in the second round. Glenbrook South also falls out but it should be noted what an impressive turnaround that program has made over the past two seasons.

Week 12’s Super 25

1. Mount Carmel (11-0) 17A: vs. No. 15 Brother Rice

2. Loyola (10-1) 28A: vs. No. 18 Lyons

3. Lincoln-Way East (11-0) 38A: vs. No. 8 Warren

4. York (11-0) 48A: vs. No. 17 Palatine

5. Glenbard West (10-1) 68A: at No. 9 Maine South

6. St. Rita (9-2) 117A: at No. 12 St. Charles North

7. Lemont (11-0) 86A: vs. Kenwood

8. Warren (10-1) 128A: at No. 3 Lincoln-Way East

9. Maine South (9-2) 138A: vs. No. 5 Glenbard West

10. Crete-Monee (9-2) 146A: at East St. Louis

11. Prairie Ridge (10-1) 156A: at Harlem

12. St. Charles North (10-1) 167A: vs. No. 6 St. Rita

13. Batavia (8-3) 187A: vs. Yorkville

14. Lake Zurich (10-1) 197A: at Pekin

15. Brother Rice (7-4) 207A: at No. 1 Mount Carmel

16. Sycamore (11-0) 235A: vs. Sterling

17. Palatine (10-1) NR8A: at No. 4 York

18. Lyons (9-2) NR8A: at No. 2 Loyola

19. Marist (8-3) 10Season complete

20. Simeon (10-1) 5Season complete

21. Prospect (9-2) 9Season complete

22. Hersey (10-1) 7Season complete

23. Morgan Park (10-1) NR5A: at No. 24 Nazareth

24. Nazareth (7-4) NR5A: vs. No. 23 Morgan Park

25. IC Catholic (10-1) 253A: at Princeton

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The Chicago Bears made a big decision at wide receiver

The Chicago Bears made a trade for a wide receiver this week. Chase Claypool will make his first appearance for the Bears Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. His presence in the locker room prompted the Bears to cut wide receiver Isaiah Coulter this week. It appears the Bears are making another roster change at the position before their Week 9 game.

According to the Bears’ Week 9 inactive list, the team has placed rookie wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. on the inactive list. Jones Jr. was not listed on the Bears’ Week 9 injury report. He appears to be a healthy scratch.

Jones, who was picked to add a speed threat to the Bears roster, has struggled in his limited role with the Bears this season. He has two muffed returns in the regular season. Jones also muffed a return in the preseason. In Jones’ small role on the Bears’ offense, he has just three receptions for 41 yards this season.

Other Bears inactive against the Dolphins include:

OL Ja’Tyre CarterTE Jake TongesDB Lamar JacksonOL Alex Leatherwood

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The Chicago Bulls head to Toronto for night one of a back-to-back with the Raptors. The two will head to the United Center on Monday for the second meeting.

The Chicago Bulls fell to 5-5 on Friday night as Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 36 points en route to a 123-119 win. Tonight, the Bulls head to Toronto to face a 5-4 Raptors team with Pascal Siakam recently hitting the injury report. Rockford native Fred VanVleet remains questionable for tonight’s game, but to this point, potentially due to his injuries, his production has seen a dropoff from last year’s breakout season.

The Chicago Bulls’ injury report remains uncertain, and it remains unclear if Zach LaVine will play both nights of the back-to-back, but with a number of off days heading their way in the coming weeks, it might be a safe bet to see him suiting up in both games.

As for the best bet blog, we’ve got some redemption and revenge to enact. Still sitting at 6-4, we are pumped with the output thus far, but with consecutive losses, we are hungry and ready for a huge bounceback in the best bet win column. Best of luck on all of your action today, let’s see some red and GO BULLS!!

2022 Bulls Best Bet Record: 6-4

Chicago Bulls +2 (Sportsbook odds may vary)

I will keep this one fairly short and sweet today, but in my opinion we are going to be seeing a great deal of red tonight in Toronto, as I believe the Bulls get back into the win column. Despite the confidence, I will happily take a couple of points on the spread if they are going to give them to us in what could be a tight contest.

This Toronto Raptors team has been and will continue to be successful this season, but this Chicago Bulls team appears to be a tough matchup for them. Whether this matchup is played at home or in Toronto, these Bulls have handled business. Over the last 15 meetings in Toronto, the Bulls are a whopping 12-3 against the spread, and over the last seven meetings, regardless of location, the Bulls are 6-1 straight up. These last seven games have all been under Billy Donovan’s watch.

Whether Fred VanVleet is in the lineup for Toronto or not, this Raptors team does have strong guard play that can fill up the score sheet against our Bulls, but with Siakam out, the Bulls should have an edge on the wings and inside in the paint, causing a potential Vucevic x-factor game. Andre Drummond’s efforts would be very useful, but it remains unclear when we will see his return to the lineup.

The other exciting and fun narrative is the potential for a Demar Derozan revenge game. Derozan of course has played a handful of games against his former team, but over four games in a Chicago Bulls uniform, Derozan gave the Bulls exactly what they needed, scoring 26, 28, 26 & 29 points. The Bulls won three out of four games against Toronto across that stretch last season, losing only once in overtime.

To close things out, I’ll give out a few more trends that swing in the Bulls favor tonight. The Bulls have been great on the road lately, over their last seven games they are 6-1 against the spread versus teams with a winning home record. Over the Bulls’ last 26 Sunday games, they are 19-7 against the spread, while the Raptors are 1-5 against the number on their last six Sunday games.

Let’s get wins in all applicable columns tonight and with any luck, a sweep of this back-to-back with Toronto, capped off with a beauty at the United Center on Monday night. Best of luck today, and GO BULLS!!

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Ben Gordon, a former Bulls guard had yet another run-in with the law in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Former Chicago Bulls star Ben Gordon was arrested on allegations he beat up two security guards at a fast food outlet in Chicago early Friday morning.

Chicago police responded to a call of a disturbance at the fast food joint around 3:28 a.m., a CPD spokesperson said. CWB Chicago reported that it was the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s.

Ben Gordon, 39, was being taken out of the restaurant when he punched a 29-year-old male security guard in the face and threw him to the ground, police said. It was not clear why he was being forced to leave.

He also pushed a second male security officer, 21, to the ground, according to CPD.

Both victims refused medical treatment, but Ben Gordon was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery.

A source close to the investigation said that Gordon was no longer in custody, but did not have information about bail. The retired shooting guard, who played the last five seasons of his 10-year career with the Bulls, has a history of brushes with the law.

On Oct. 10, he was arrested at LaGuardia Airport after witnesses said he punched his 10-year-old son in the face as they got ready to board a flight to Chicago. 

A Mount Vernon, New York native, Gordon won an NCAA title with the University of Connecticut prior to his NBA career.

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