Bears/Lions Thanksgiving Recap

    Written by: William Petersen •

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    Turkey Day 2024 was kicked off in its normal fashion, the Detroit Lions hosting the first of three Thanksgiving Day games, this time against its NFC North rival, the Chicago Bears. Detroit came into Ford Field on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning boasting a 10-1 record with their lone loss coming in Week 2 to the Tampa Buccaneers in Detroit. The Bears on the other hand have had another abysmal season that will most likely result in the cleaning of the front office as well as coaching staff after rolling into Week 13 with a record of 4-7. While these two teams do not match up well on paper the Bears came into the Motor City with a three-game win streak against the Lions on Thanksgiving. The Lions brought an eye popping seven-game losing streak into their Thanksgiving Day game today but still closed as ten point favorites. This classic divisional reached its nineteenth meeting today with the Bears leading the series 11-8. The Lions finally ended their Thanksgiving Day losing streaks, almost blowing a 16 points lead at halftime, but won 23-20.

    Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears were poised to have a surprising season after landing the former Heisman winner with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, while also adding key weapons to their offense like veteran wideout Keenan Allen and drafting former Washington Huskies standout Rome Odunze. The preseason hype could not have been more offbase for the Bears as they have only struggled to stay in games this season while keeping Williams upright in the pocket. Coming into Week 13, Williams leads the NFL in most times sacked, at 44. The Lions sacked the Bears QB five times which played greatly into the struggle the Bears offense endured in Detroit in the first half and what iced the game on the final drive of the game. The Bears did not convert their first, 1st-down until :50 left in the first half and only had 53 total yards of offense compared to the Lions 279 at halftime.

    Chicago turned this game on its head in the second half with veteran Keenan Allen opening up the scoring and capping off a nine play, 74 yard drive and later catching his second touchdown to set up a comeback that would fall short as Matt Eberflus elected to not use his final timeout before having Williams throw a prayer to the endzone. Williams finished 20/39 for 256 yards and three touchdowns and no turnovers. Chicago mounted an incredible comeback that was fueled by the rookie’s passing game, finding his favorite targets in Allen and DJ Moore who finished with eight receptions for 97 yards and the Bears final touchdown that would bring them within three. The ending to this Thanksgiving classic would summarize the overall season the Chicago Bears are having, full of disappointment. Williams played well in the second half but it was too little too late for Chicago as they now move to 4-8 on the season.

    Detroit came into Ford Field with a terrible losing streak to the Bears on Thanksgiving as well as playing on Thanksgiving in general. These streaks would narrowly be broken as the Lions seemed to take their foot off the gas in the second half after scoring sixteen unanswered points in the first half. Jared Goff played his normal, steady role going 21/34 for 221 yards and two touchdowns to Sam LaPorta who only had three catches for six yards total. The running back duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 175 rushing and 53 receiving yards in a win that almost turned into disaster if it wasn’t for a tenacious Lions pass rush. Amon-Ra St. Brown led Detroit in receiving with five catches on seven targets for 73 yards.

    Although Detroit only put up seven points in the second half, the Lions moved to 11-1 and have won ten straight games. There is some worry with the lack of scoring in the second half but Detroit continues to look like the team that will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in February. The major question surrounding this Lions team is if they are reaching their peak at the wrong time but I am sure fans will be happy to see their boys in blue win on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2016.

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