The chants rang out a few times Sunday from the hearty Detroit Lions contingent at Soldier Field, including as the clock ran down on the Lions’ 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears . “Jar-ed Goff! Jar-ed Goff!” the fans yelled for the Lions quarterback who spearheaded a 475-yard offensive performance. Minutes later, as Bears players headed to a glum, quick-emptying locker room amid their ninth straight loss, the Detroit fans gathered en masse in a corner of Soldier Field over the tunnel where Lions players exited.
The celebrations of the Lions’ 13th win might have been more of a dagger on the Bears home field if they weren’t so expected. The Lions, even amid a plague of injuries, have so much of what the Bears are lacking. On Sunday, that showed up in their ability to capitalize on Bears mistakes and surge ahead early to a 20-0 lead, forcing the Bears to play catch-up the whole game.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 334 yards — the third-highest output of his rookie season — and two touchdowns against the heavily injured Lions defense. But the Bears lost two first-quarter fumbles, gave up an 82-yard touchdown pass and totaled 10 penalties in the game — five in each half — to make Williams’ outing just a footnote in what is now the Bears second-longest single-season losing streak in team history. The longest streak came in 2022 when the Bears lost 10 games, which extended into 14 consecutive games at the start of the 2023 season.
Bears tight end Cole .