Lions doomed by officiating, their own mistakes in 28-13 loss to Bears

The Lions were stymied by the Bears and their own mistakes in their loss to Chicago. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

When the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears in Week 11, they needed a massive fourth-quarter comeback to make it happen. On Sunday, they found themselves in the same position as they were three weeks ago, in need of a huge comeback to secure a win against the Bears.

But this time there was no late game magic for Detroit. They lost 28-13, unable to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against a Bears team that appears to be specifically engineered to give the Lions trouble.

Things went afoul for the Lions pretty quickly. They were down 10-0 before the first quarter was over, thanks to D.J. Moore’s first career rushing touchdown and a subsequent field goal.

And Bears quarterback Justin Fields was feeling it. He showed the nimbleness he’s known for, skipping around and pulling his feet out of the arms of Lions defenders.

The Lions were able to fight back, scoring two touchdowns (with one missed extra point) in the second quarter, and they even had the lead at the half, completely neutralizing all the Bears’ early action.

Chicago had tied it up 13-13 late in the third quarter, essentially giving both teams a clean slate to write their own ending to this game. But then the officiating intervened to scribble all over those clean, blank pages with their off-brand dollar store crayons. This play was called an incompletion instead of intentional grounding on Fields.

On third and long, this was ruled an incomplete pass….and not intentional grounding. Bears scored the next play. What are officials doing. pic.twitter.com/vGePxszMNC

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) December 10, 2023

The incomplete call seemed wrong, but even referees make mistakes, right? So the Lions challenged. And then the officials decided it wasn’t a mistake. The call was upheld.

That changed the game completely. Just a few plays later the Bears scored their go-ahead touchdown…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lions-doomed-by-officiating-their-own-mistakes-in-28-13-loss-to-bears-213336750.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-10 21:33:36

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