DETROIT — During a fourth-quarter drive against the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields danced at the Ford Field 30-yard line, leaping with excitement and swaying his hips.
During his first 56 minutes of play on Sunday after missing four games due to injury, he was feeling that fantastic.
Fields had just run for a 29-yard gain on third-and-14, part of his 104-yard rushing day against the Lions. He led a touchdown drive on the Bears’ opening possession and threw an impressive 39-yard touchdown strike to DJ Moore in the third quarter on his way to throwing for 169 yards. That 29-yard run, his longest of the day, helped set up a Cairo Santos field goal that gave the Bears a 12-point lead.
“I was just feeling it,” Fields said. “I have no idea (what the dance was). Just first thing that popped in my mind.”
Instead, what will be remembered most about Fields’ return from a dislocated right thumb is the Bears’ inability to finish the game, as they allowed the NFC North-leading Lions to storm back for a 31-26 victory to improve to 8-2. The 3-8 Bears had to sort through how they let what should have been a feel-good story — and a promising start to a crucial final seven-game stretch for Fields — slip away.
“We’ve got to find a way to have (Fields’) back and finish,” Herbert said. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve got to find a way to finish that.”
Much of the Bears’ collapse fell on the defense allowing Lions quarterback Jared Goff to put together two touchdown drives in the final four minutes for the win. But the Bears offense also missed an opportunity to put the game away on their second-to-last drive with a five-point lead.
Herbert was stuffed for no gain running up the middle on first down and stopped after just 1 yard on second down, a read-option play that Fields handed off.
On the next play, Bears rookie Tyler Scott could feel his chance was coming as soon as he shot off the line of scrimmage and past cornerback Cam Sutton. On third-and-9 in the final three minutes, Scott ran the route just like he had practiced, and he had a couple of steps on Sutton as Fields let the football fly.
“It’s my chance to make an impact on this game, especially during that time,” Scott said. “To put a dagger in the game.”
Fields threw a “great ball,” Scott said. But as Scott dived forward, the football was just out of his reach. He had misjudged the catch a little, he said, and the missed opportunity forced the Bears to punt, giving the Lions the ball back with 2 minutes, 44 seconds to play.
“If that thing connects, yeah, I think that seals the deal in my opinion,” said Fields, who called Scott “a young player with a bright future in this league” who “will be good and bounce back from that.”
