The Chicago Bears won the turnover margin by 3 in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions. The Bears also very nearly held the Lions to a season low in yardage.
Yet it was the Lions who erased a 12-point deficit to win 31-26 on November 19.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields gave the Lions a lot of credit in his postgame press conference. But he also made it clear the game was a missed opportunity for Chicago.
“We just played a heck of a team: number one in our division, probably a top three, top five team in the league right now,” Fields told reporters. “And if I’m keeping it real with y’all, we should have won that game.
“It just comes down to finishing and executing at the end of the game, so that’s how you do it.”
Fields added that the loss “hurts a lot.”
History agreed with Fields. The Lions became the first team with a negative-3 turnover margin and under 20 minutes in time of possession since 1932 to win a game.
“Since 1932, no NFL team with a +3 turnover margin and 40 minutes time of possession ever lost that game,” Bears radio host Marc Silverman wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Teams were 48-0 until the Bears lost today.
“It’s not an overstatement to call this a historic loss.”
From the Lions’ perspective, it was a historic win.
Lions’ Jared Goff Bounces Back From 3 Interceptions
A major reason one could argue the Bears should have won in Week 11 was because Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw 3 interceptions. It was his first 3-interception performance as the Lions quarterback.
But the rough first 55 minutes didn’t discourage Goff from remaining aggressive in a comeback effort.
On Detroit’s final two possessions, Goff went 10 for 12 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. He led two touchdown drives and completed a 2-point conversion to tight end Sam LaPorta to give the Lions a 3-point lead.
“Here’s what we know about Goff: At the very least, he’s going to be mentally tough and physically tough,” Campbell told the media. “You can always count on that. You can bank on that.
“Today, he showed his resiliency. When we needed those plays, man, he showed up in no-huddle mode. It was awesome.”
After the game, Fields raved about the Bears defense’s ability to intercept Goff, who had just 5 interceptions prior to Week 11.
“Jared Goff, he does a great job not turning the ball over, and the way our defense was able to create takeaways was big for us,” Fields told reporters. “As an offense, we got to, of course, turn those into touchdowns rather than field goals or no points at all.
“When those big moments happen, when we need those big plays, we got to execute.”
The Bears scored just 10 points off Detroit’s four giveaways.
Lions Complete Historic Comeback
It’s difficult to look at Detroit’s comeback victory against Chicago as nothing but historic.
Not only were the Lions the first team since 1932 to win with a minus-3 turnover margin and under 20 minutes in time of possession, but the NFL win probability had the Bears at 98.2% when the Lions began their second-to-last drive, with 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Never out of the fight.
The Lions scored a touchdown in 1:16 to pull within 5 points. Fields and the Bears offense then held onto the ball for only 26 seconds before punting back to Detroit.
On their next possession, the Lions needed 2:04 to score the eventual game-winning touchdown. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson sealed the victory with a sack fumble, which led to a Bears safety.
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Justin Fields Fires Message to Lions After Detroit Comeback Win