Bears Rally Past Lions

Bears Rally Past Lions

Robbie Gould kicked four field goals, including three in the final quarter, as the Chicago Bears rallied for a 26-21 win over the Detroit Lions.

While Rex Grossman completed 20-of-36 passes for 197 yards and was intercepted once for the NFC North Champion Bears (13-2), who have already clinched home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

"We came over expecting a tough business trip, and that's exactly what we got," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We knew it would be a dogfight, and that's what it ended up being. When we needed to put points on the board, we did. Robbie Gould, of course, was big."

The Bears then went ahead following a Detroit punt, as Griese engineered a 12-play, 72-yard jaunt, with Gould connecting from 39 yards away with 5:13 left for a 23-21 margin. Griese hit Mark Bradley with a key third-down pass.

"No players ever want to come out of the game," Smith said. "They want to play the entire time. The game was on the line, but the plan in my mind, coming in, was to let Rex at least get into the third quarter and then from there - well, you saw the guys that we took out there then. We took out 'Moose' (Muhsin Muhammad), we took out Thomas (Jones). We wanted to do that a little bit without messing up the chemistry of the team, and I think we were able to do that."

Mark Anderson then sacked Kitna, causing a fumble and Adewale Ogunleye pounced on the ball at the Detroit 32 for the game's only turnover. Gould nailed a 44- yarder with 2:50 left.

"It looked like he kind of had it when he was coming down," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "I couldn't see if somebody stripped it from him or not. But, it went to him and he's a big man with good body position and great hands. So, we thought we had a chance to win it with him."

Kitna though gave the Lions a lead with a 23-yard TD pass to Dan Campbell with 2:32 remaining in the opening quarter. It was just a two-play drive, with Kitna also hitting Roy Williams for 26 yards.

Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson plunged off left tackle and nudged into the end zone with 26 seconds left in the half for a 17-7 Chicago advantage.

It was a rejuvenated look for the Lions to start the second half, as Kitna drove his team 71 yards, ending it with a 20-yard TD pass to Mike Furrey in the right side of the end zone, just over four minutes into the third.

Detroit's defense then held Chicago to a three-and-out and the Lions successfully challenged an incomplete pass on the ensuing possession, resulting in a 14-yard connection from Kitna to Roy Williams at the Chicago 27.