Bears quarterback Justin Fields was not happy that a 26-14 lead over the Lions with four minutes left in the fourth quarter on Sunday turned into a 31-26 loss.
“We just played a heck of a team, number one in our division, [and] probably a top three, top five in the league right now,” Fields said afterward, via MLive.com. “And if I’m keeping it real with y’all, we should have won that game. It just comes down to finishing and executing at the end of the game, so that’s how you do it. Jared Goff, he does a great job not turning the ball over, and the way our defense was able to create takeaways was big for us. And as an offense, we got to, of course, turn those into touchdowns rather than field goals or no points at all. When those big moments happen, when we need those big plays, we got to execute.”
Fields played one of his best games, running for 104 yards, completing 16 of 23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions and a season-low two sacks, but his sack on his last snap of the game was a costly one that turned into a fumble out the back of the end zone for a safety. Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson beat Bears rookie right tackle Darnell Wright on that play, but Fields said he could have had better pocket presence to help Wright.
“I just got to step up in the pocket and do better,” Fields said. “But I know Darnell was beating himself up after the game, and he’s going to learn from that and get better. But to help him out, I got to step up in the pocket and just help him out.”
It was a game the Bears certainly could have won, but in crunch time when the Bears needed to make a play, it was the Lions who made all the plays.
