Caleb Williams had already thrown three second-half touchdowns against the best team in the NFC when he was given another challenge: the ball on his own 1-yard line with 3:31 to play and the Bears trailing the Lions with a field goal. .

The score would remain that way as Williams was hampered by mistakes from his own team and the Bears lost 23-20 to the Lions in front of 64,275 fans at Ford Field.

Williams threw three touchdowns in the second half and went 20-for-39 for 256 yards and a 97.8 passer rating on the day.

The Bears finally got within field goal range on the fianl drive before penalties pushed them back to midfield.

On fourth-and-14 at the Bears’ 46 with 56 seconds to play, Williams was flushed to the right with no receivers on the right side of the field. He still completed a pass to DJ Moore, and former Bears cornerback Kindle Vildor was flagged for pass interference despite minimal contact with Moore.

That came one play after the Bears converted fourth-and-4 on a crossing route to Moore, only for tight end Cole Kmet to be flagged for picking on Moore’s defender, freeing him up.

Two plays after the pass interference call on Vildor, guard Teven Jenkins was called for illegal hands to the face on a 13-yard pass to Keenan Allen that would have given the Bears the ball at the 12. Instead, the Bears had the ball at the 35. Za’Darius Smith sacked Williams on the next play when he ran unblocked to the quarterback.

Eberflus, not wanting to use a timeout, then let the Bears play on third-and-26, hoping to get back within field goal range. Williams threw deep to Rome Odunze and the clock struck zero before the ball fell incomplete.

The Bears were embarrassed in the first half and trailed 16-0 at halftime. They had two first downs in the first half, the first time that happened since Justin Fields’ ill-fated first career start in Cleveland in 2021. The Bears went 0-for-5 on third downs and ran 19 plays, good for an average of 2.8. meters per play.

The Lions had 125 rushing yards and 111 passing yards in the first half.

Williams went 5-for-15 for 34 yards in the first half, but was better in the second half. On his first drive, Williams scrambled straight to the sideline and attempted a stop to cut up the field. He was hit in the left knee by linebacker Jack Campbell and was clearly in pain.

Later, Williams’ father Carl retweeted a message on

After lying on the sideline after the 9-yard gain, he was helped by teammates and rejoined the group. On the next play, he found receiver Keenan Allen in the seam, who caught the pass at the 8, spun and dropped into the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown.

Williams’ left knee was so uncomfortable after he sat on the Bears’ bench that he was eventually sent to the injury tent on the sideline. He got out quickly and was on the field for the team’s next drive.

The Bears marched 70 yards on the next drive for another touchdown – again to Allen, this time for nine yards. Trailing by 10 with 13:40 to play, the Bears went for two. Williams hit an incomplete pass to a covered Cole Kmet. Williams threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Moore with 5:42 to play.

The Bears had a chance to tie or win at the end, but mismanagement of the clock doomed them.

By means of Jason Lieser

Eberflus entered Thursday’s game against the Lions with a 14-31 record and plenty of missteps on his ledger in three seasons.

By means of Jason Lieser

The Bears’ offense is gaining momentum after two weeks of progress under new coordinator Thomas Brown, but faces a Lions defense that ranks second in points allowed. The Lions’ running back duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery will test the Bears’ run defense.

By means of Mark Potas