Chicago Bears Score and Recap (Week 16): Lions 34, Bears 17 – Detroit Demolishes Chicago

It was more of the same for the Bears on Sunday, as they fell way behind the Lions early and never recovered. Detroit would eventually win by three scores in front of a Soldier Field crowd that tilted heavily towards the road team.

The Lions kicked a field goal on their opening drive and then immediately recovered a fumbled snap by quarterback Caleb Williams to set up a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown run. A Rome Odunze fumble led to another FG followed by an 82-yard bomb from Jared Goff to Jameson Williams which made it 20-0 early in the second quarter.

The Bears finally got on the board at that point when Caleb Williams completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet. Detroit responded immediately with Goff firing a TD to Amon-Ra St. Brown but then Chicago was able to get that score right back when Williams hit WR Keenan Allen streaking up the sideline for a 45-yard touchdown reception that cut the deficit to 27-14 at halftime.

The Lions put the game out of reach on the opening possession of the third quarter when Goff hooked up with TE Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard catch and a 34-14 advantage. That was basically it, the only scoring the rest of the way was a Cairo Santos field goal as Detroit would prevail 34-17. (Box score)

Why the Bears Lost

Another very flat start combined with turnovers to put the game out of reach by the second quarter.

Key Moment

Odunze’s fumble came at the end of a 19-yard reception that had moved the ball into Detroit territory. A touchdown on that drive would have cut the deficit to 10-7, instead, Chicago would fall behind by 20.

Stats That Matter

• Williams got pretty good protection and was able to throw for 334 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort.
• Chicago’s quarterback was the leading rusher with just 34 yards on Sunday out of a team total of 59.
• Allen is finally coming to life late in the season after being invisible early on. The veteran wideout had nine receptions for 145 yards against the Lions.

Bottom Line

Caleb Williams had a good game on Sunday which is pretty much all that matters at this point for the Bears. There are going to be wholesale changes around the young quarterback going into 2025 so everything else is going to be pretty fungible right now. If he can continue to develop it will be the one bright spot in what increasingly is looking like an 11-game losing streak to end the season.

Next Up 

The Bears play their final home game of the 2024 season against the Seahawks Thursday, December 26 at 7:15pm CT streaming on Amazon Prime.