Role Reversal: Trubisky Bails Out Bears Defense for Win
For once, Mitchell Trubisky's timing was impeccable.
The Bears' defense nearly embarrassed themselves by losing to a third-string quarterback in his first start, but Trubisky had their backs with a critical 90-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter for a 24-20 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Detroit Lions.
"We're getting closer but we're not there yet," Trubisky said.
They're unlikely to get anywhere meaningful with a 6-6 record, but at least the Bears dodged the shame of losing to a 3-7-1 Lions team without quarterback Matthew Stafford and backup Jeff Driskell due to injuries, and with David Blough seeing his first pro action.
"We put ourselves in a position to have another big game next week," Trubisky said.
Trubisky completed 29-of-38 for a season-high 338 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 118.1. He flipped a 3-yarder to David Montgomery with 2:17 remaining in the game for the winning points.
"A lot of players made a lot of plays but today was Mitch's day, it was his day," coach Matt Nagy said. "He did a lot of things today in regards to making special throws at special times."
A key 35-yard Trubisky pass to Anthony Miller on third-and-4 from the Bears 16 jump-started the winning drive, and then a 32-yarder to Miller at the 2 set up the winning points.
"They were dimes," Miller said. "The ball was where it was supposed to be and all I had to do was make the play."
The defense allowed 280 yards passing to Blough, starting for Driskel, who was starting for Stafford. He threw a 75-yard TD pass to Kenny Golladay and 8-yarder to Marvin Jones in the first quarter and the Lions went on to build a 17-7 lead.
"We came out sluggish, very sluggish," Jackson said. "We just had to regroup and get it back together."
They gave up 22-of-38 passing and an early fourth-quarter go-ahead Matt Prater 24-yard field goal before the comeback. Then Jackson sealed it with his first interception of the year after the Lions drove to the Bears' 26-yard line in the last two minutes.
"We didn't get down at all," Jackson said. "We knew there was a lot of football left to be played."
With four games left to be played against four teams currently in playoff positions, there are no more Bloughs or Driskels left for the Bears.
"We're not trying to prove anything to anybody except ourselves," Trubisky said.
At least on Thursday, they were able to prove to themselves they could come from behind against a bad team for a victory.
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