For the first time in eight years, Lions fans were able to finish Thanksgiving dinner celebrating a win, but it didn’t happen without a scare.

Detroit absolutely dominated the first half of the game with a Sam LaPorta touchdown from Jared Goff, three field goals from Jake Bates, and over 22 minutes of possession. The Lions defense shut down Chicago in the first two quarters. Halftime performer Shaboozey had more time on the field than the Bears offense in the first half. The Lions took a 16-0 lead into the second half but with a momentum shift in favor of Chicago after a Jahmyr Gibbs fumble in the redzone at the end of the 2nd quarter.

Both offenses went the distance to open the second half. Chicago started by marching down the field to score their first points of the game on a Keenan Allen touchdown. It made it a 16-7 ballgame. That changed quickly when the Lions’ offense methodically made their way down the field to score on LaPorta’s second touchdown. That made it 23-7 Lions.

It was all Bears the rest of the way. Allen got into the endzone a second time, and before we knew it, it was 23-20. The Bears’ defense got a three-and-out, and their offense drained the remaining minutes and seconds and fell short after their drive stalled out just outside of field goal range. The game ended on puzzling clock management from Chicago head coach Matt Eberfleus. After taking a sack with over 30 seconds left, the Bears failed to use their last timeout. On 3rd and 26, with a timeout, Caleb Williams snapped the ball with just over five seconds remaining. He then held onto the ball for too long as the clock ran dry on an incomplete pass intended for Rome Odunze.

Top performers:

QB Jared Goff won the John Madden Thanksgiving MVP for the game with a 21/34, 221 yard, 2 touchdown performance.

RB David Montgomery had 21 carries for 88 yards while Jahmyr Gibbs had 87 yards on just nine carries.

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown caught five passes for 73 yards, TE Sam LaPorta had 3 catches for just six yards but two TD’s. WR Tim Patrick made the most of his two catches by running for 48 yards. WR Jameson Williams almost cost the Lions the game with a personal foul penalty that stalled out a successful drive that ended with a missed field goal from Bates, but he did catch five passes for 28 yards.

Defensively, DB Brian Branch led the team in tackles. DT D.J Reader got two big sacks, Za’Darius Smith earned 1.5 sacks, Al-Quandin Muhhamed got one, and so did middle linebacker Ezekiel Turner.

Next up: The Lions stay at home next week to face the Packers, who they beat 24-14 early this season on the road at Lambeau.