CHICAGO — There was a big gasp going through the stadium as Jay Cutler writhed in pain on the field. CHICAGO — There was a big gasp going through the stadium as Jay Cutler writhed in pain on the field.
CHICAGO — There was a big gasp going through the stadium as Jay Cutler writhed in pain on the field.
He rose to his feet. The Bears defense rose to the occasion.
Cutler returned after bruising his ribs, and Brian Urlacher made a key fumble recovery to help Chicago beat the Detroit Lions 13-7 on Monday night for its fourth straight win.
It was certainly not an easy night for the NFC North leaders, particularly their quarterback, but they came away with the win after a week off and possibly buried Detroit (2-4) in the process despite getting a major scare along the way.
That happened in the second quarter when Cutler was sacked by Ndamukong Suh and ultimately wound up going to the locker room to have his ribs examined.
“He’s a tough guy,” coach Lovie Smith said. “Most people thought Jay would get up. Unless it’s a broken leg or something like that, he’s going to get up. He is a tough guy. … That was a gutsy effort by him. He was in some pain, but he fought through it.”
Cutler came back to start the second half and was 16 of 31 with 150 yards and a touchdown in the game, and although he said he was feeling “all right” afterward, he acknowledged he wasn’t at full strength during the game.
“But we had to fight through it,” he added.
They did just that, and with the defense locking down the Lions, the Bears (5-1) prevailed. It was a huge blow for last-place Detroit, a team many expected to contend for the division championship after making the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
“It’s tough,” Lions receiver Calvin Johnson said. “We had a great week of practice last week and it just didn’t translate. It just didn’t translate to the field today.”
The Lions simply never got in gear, and when they had chances, they blew them, turning the ball over four times. The biggest came early in the third quarter, when Joique Bell fumbled at the goal line with the Bears leading 13-0.
Urlacher recovered and Chicago hung on from there, sending Detroit to its fourth loss in five games. Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 81 yards and scored a touchdown on Chicago’s first possession. Matt Forte ran for 96 yards, and with the defense doing its part again, Chicago never really was threatened in this one.
It was a rough night for the Lions, with Matthew Stafford going 28 of 46 for 261 yards after leading the late charge in last week’s win over Philadelphia. Johnson had trouble shaking the Bears’ Charles Tillman and finished with three catches for 34 yards. He dropped a deep pass over the middle on the game’s first possession even though he was wide open.
“Calvin is one of the best players in the league,” Smith said. “It’s hard for Detroit to win games without him being productive. That’s why you need a guy like Charles Tillman that can match up on him. It made them go look at other ways to get the ball down field. That’s going to lead up to wins most of the time, when we can get that kind of effort out of Charles.”
The Lions lost receiver Nate Burleson for the remainder of the season to a broken right leg in the third quarter on a hit by Tim Jennings after a catch, another blow for a team that’s reeling again after pulling out a dramatic win.
“There is a lot of season left,” Stafford said. “We got a chance to play back home next week and play a tough Seattle team. It’s a short week for us but honestly I’m glad it’s a short week. I don’t want to be sitting around thinking about this one too much longer.”
There weren’t many scares for the Bears, with one big exception. They were leading 10-0 in the second quarter and had just taken over at their 26 when that happened.
Cutler, who had his helmet ripped off on a hit by Suh after a run last year at Soldier Field, got driven to the turf by him on an 8-yard sack. He came up kneeling and holding his head as trainers tended to him, then ran to the sideline.
Bears 13, Lions 7
Detroit 0 0 0 7 — 7
Chicago 10 0 3 0 — 13
First quarter
Chi—Marshall 7 pass from Cutler (Gould kick), 11:12.
Chi—FG Gould 39, 1:23.
Third quarter
Chi—FG Gould 21, 11:20.
Fourth quarter
Det—Broyles 12 pass from Stafford (Hanson kick), :30.
A—62,300.
Det Chi
First downs 21 19
Total Net Yards 340 296
Rushes-yards 18-99 32-171
Passing 241 125
Punt Returns 6-7 2-7
Kickoff Returns 2-44 2-27
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-2
Comp-Att-Int 28-46-1 17-32-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-20 5-25
Punts 8-40.1 8-40.5
Fumbles-Lost 6-3 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-47 9-49
Time of Possession 25:25 34:35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Detroit, LeShoure 12-63, Stafford 3-23, Bell 3-13. Chicago, Forte 22-96, Bush 6-36, Cutler 3-34, Campbell 1-5.
PASSING—Detroit, Stafford 28-46-1-261. Chicago, Cutler 16-31-0-150, Campbell 1-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Detroit, T.Young 6-81, LeShoure 6-20, Pettigrew 5-37, Broyles 3-51, Johnson 3-34, Bell 3-16, Burleson 1-16, Scheffler 1-6. Chicago, Marshall 6-81, Hester 3-38, Bennett 3-27, Forte 3-4, Davis 1-3, Bush 1-(minus 3).
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Chicago, Gould 47 (BK).
