The Chicago Bears made sure they weren’t going to be the first team to lose to the Detroit Lions in 2021.
A series of coaching errors by Dan Campbell and the Lions coaching staff followed as the Bears were set to kick the go-ahead field goal and give Detroit the ball back with under two minutes to play.
Detroit could have extended its lead in the fourth quarter, but three consecutive penalties in Bears territory forced a third-and-32 and give Chicago the ball back with 8:30 to play — which the Bears used the remaining time to pull off the victory.
Andy Dalton deserves a lot of credit for leading Chicago on the final drive, completing 80% of his passes as all four of his completions went for first downs.
The Lions were called for three consecutive penalties on two separate occasions in this game — both occasions costing them potential points as the Lions were at the Bears’ 29 in the first half and their own 47 in the fourth quarter when the consecutive penalties occurred.
Head coach Dan Campbell also had an opportunity to get the ball back late in the game as the Bears were playing for the field goal and the lead with under two minutes left.
If the timeout wasn’t called, the Bears kick the field goal with over 1:30 to play and take a 16-14 lead — giving the Lions one final chance to have a drive to convert a winning field goal of their own.
On third-and-10 with a clean pocket, Dalton forced one into the end zone to Damiere Byrd with Oruwariye in position to snatch the ball and hold the Bears to zero points with a 10-7 lead.
Nagy had to answer questions about his job security all week as the Bears head coach is trying to save his coaching gig in Chicago.