DETROIT (AP) — Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes to Sam LaPorta, Jake Bates made three field goals in the first half and the Detroit Lions held off the Chicago Bears 23-20 on Thursday to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

The Lions snapped a seven-game losing streak on Thanksgiving.

The Bears had the ball in Lions territory late in the game with a chance to drive for a game-tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown, but they blew the opportunity.

Caleb Williams threw an incomplete pass as time expired from the Detroit 41 after being sacked with about 30 seconds left, allowing time to run off the clock even though Chicago had one more timeout.

The NFC-leading Lions (11-1) have their best record after 12 games in team history and their 10-game winning streak ties a franchise record with the 1934 squad.

The Bears (4-8) have lost six straight.

Detroit led 16-0 at halftime and 23-7 after three quarters and quarterback Caleb Williams led a comeback that came up short for the second straight week. Williams helped the Bears rally from an 11-point deficit in the final 22 seconds of regulation against Minnesota before losing in overtime.

Detroit opened the game with four straight scoring drives, going ahead 16-0 on Goff’s 3-yard touchdown pass to LaPorta in the second quarter and Bates’ field goals.

Chicago, meanwhile, failed to pick up a first down on its first four drives and gained a total of 32 yards on those possessions.

Goff’s second touchdown pass to LaPorta, a 1-yard toss, gave Detroit a 23-7 lead late in the third quarter. The score was set up by Jameson Williams’ 15-yard reverse, which included him hurdling Kevin Byard to gain several extra yards.

Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick overall in the draft, was 20 of 39 for 256 yards with two touchdown passes to Keenan Allen and one to DJ Moore.

Williams seemed to make his first rookie mistake of the game in the third quarter on a run, pulling up instead of going out of bounds and took a low hit from linebacker Jack Campbell.

The former USC star shook it off and on the next snap, threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Allen. William connected with Allen for another score, throwing a 9-yarder to him.

Detroit had a chance to add to its cushion, but Bates missed a 45-yard kick after starting his NFL career 19 of 19 on field goals on a drive that was stunted by Jameson Williams’ 15-yard penalty for tossing the football at a Bears player on the sideline.

Caleb Williams took advantage, throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Moore to pull within three points with 5:36 remaining.

Injuries

Bears: RB Roschon Johnson left the game with a concussion. … Bears G Ryan Bates (concussion) and DB Elijah Hicks (ankle) were inactive.

Lions: DE Josh Paschal (knee), DL Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring) and DL Mekhi Wingo (knee) where hurt during the game, potentially more blows to a position hit hard by injuries, including Aidan Hutchinson’s broken leg. … Lions PR/WR Kalif Raymond (foot) was put on injured reserve Wednesday and was replaced by Maurice Alexander, who was signed from the practice squad. … CB Carlton Davis (knee/thumb) and OT Taylor Decker (knee) were inactive.

Up next

Bears: Play at San Francisco on Dec. 8.

Lions: Host Green Bay next Thursday night.

—Reporting by Larry Lage, AP sports writer

In 1934 the Detroit Lions played the first pro football game ever held on Thanksgiving. They lost to the Chicago Bears.

Nearly a century later, the Lions face the Bears again on Thanksgiving.

But this time Detroit takes the field as one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

Detroit Football Network founder Justin Rogers has reported on the Lions for more than a dozen years.

He told WDET the team is primed to win its first Turkey Day game since 2016.

“They’re well coached, they’re aggressive, they’re mentally strong. It just doesn’t seem like anything fazes this team, physically or mentally.”

—Justin Rogers, Founder of the Detroit Football Network

Listen: Justin Rogers

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Justin Rogers, Detroit Football Network: This Lions team under Head Coach Dan Campbell is kind of about ending streaks, they’ve ended several negative streaks under him, So it only makes sense that they knock another one off here on this holiday.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: They’re heading into this game with a bit of a banged-up roster, especially on defense And this is a short week with only four days between games. How do you think that’s going to impact the Turkey Day contest?

JR: Every time they get an injury you wonder if the attrition is going to catch up to this team. They’ve suffered so many this year and so many big names, obviously, with star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson being at the top of that list. But remarkably, they just seem to continue to get better. They currently rank second in the NFL in points allowed, despite all these different guys that they’ve lost. And so, it’s going to be another puzzle for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to figure out. But I don’t know what more to say about the job that he’s done this year. He’s put himself firmly on the head coaching track. He was on it anyway but really needed the results to accentuate his resume. With overcoming these injuries, it’s a no-brainer for some team to give him that shot.

QK: The Lions defense is facing a quarterback who’s had a little bit of an up-and-down year so far, which you would expect for a rookie, even a No. 1 overall pick like Caleb Williams. But he seems to have been really pulling it together the last couple of games, since they got a new offensive coordinator for him with the Bears. Do you think he can take another step in this particular game against the lions?

JR: That’s the thing with rookies, right? It’s all about finding the level, finding consistency. And the good signs for Williams is that the last five games, he hasn’t thrown at interception. Turnovers are often a problem that plague young quarterbacks. He’s got quite a bit of weapons around him. They put him in a very good position to succeed as a rookie and it seems like he is taking to his new offensive coordinator. They’ve only been together for two games. It’s a very small sample size. It’s tough to judge exactly what that means. But we saw what happened when Detroit’s rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold was out this week and they had to go to a backup. It was probably the only weak point on the defense. If they have to go back to that, it could be problematic. But development isn’t linear for young players. Williams could have another good game or he could absolutely tank. And neither one would be surprising. This is going to be his first taste of a short week in the NFL, his first taste of Thanksgiving and the national exposure that comes with that. It’s going to be a storyline, how he handles these variables that he’s not experienced before.

QK: On the other side of the ball, Detroit’s offense has seemed almost unstoppable sometimes, running up huge scores. But they are facing a Bears defense that seems to have one of the better, if not best, secondaries in the entire league at the moment. That might make it a bit of a tough challenge for quarterback Jared Goff and his various receivers. How do you see that shaping up?

JR: I think it’s the matchup that’s going to dictate how this game goes. Detroit’s offense is probably the best in franchise history at this point, certainly the best of three really good years under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. They’re averaging over 30 points a game, we’ve seen them put up at least 40 four times this season, and 50 twice. They are incredibly explosive and incredibly versatile. The beauty of their offense is they can do everything. They can run the smash mouth game and pound it on the ground or they can play the finesse game. They have players that are really good in speed and space and so, you never know what you’re going to get when you’re game planning for this Detroit offense. As good as Chicago’s defense has been, and it’s been very good, they’ve got a lot of continuity there, they’re getting a lot out of talent at all levels, Detroit will have an answer. It’s just a matter of whether they’ll be able to execute. We saw two weeks ago in Jacksonville, that everything Detroit drew up worked to perfection. We saw last week in Indy they looked a little bit clunkier, some good drives, some bad drives. But they still walk away with 24 points. I think if you can score in that ballpark, in the upper 20 points, it’s going to be enough to beat a Chicago offense that just isn’t clicking it near that level this season.

QK: You’ve been covering the team now for a long time. Some Lions fans still have this fear in the back of their minds once in a while that Detroit will get close and then they’re going to just find a way to not have it work. Yet over this last three, four years, suddenly the Lions seem to be one of the best teams in the NFC. In fact, they are maybe the best at the moment, by a lot of experts predictions, as well as the only NFC team that’s never been to the Super Bowl. People talk about “grit” and stuff like that, but to you, what’s really been the change between the Lions being league doormats not that long ago and now maybe favorites for the Super Bowl?

JR: It starts with talent. If you’re not talented enough, you’re going to really struggle. Because in the NFL, the way it’s set up, all the teams are relatively equal in talent. So the margin for error for the Lions was always so small. Every time something minimal went against them, a bad call from an official, a bad bounce, a dropped pass, it was enough to tip the scales in an otherwise balanced game and cause them to lose. Now they’re in the upper echelon of talent and so when they have these things that go against them, which inevitably happens in the course of football, human error is part of the game — whether it’s officiating or other players. You have a game where Jared Goff throws five interceptions and the Lions still win. That’s not enough to derail you? It’s unbelievable.

They’re well coached, they’re aggressive, they’re mentally strong. It just doesn’t seem like anything fazes this team, physically or mentally. They’re very comfortable facing adversity, staring it down and running it over. I understand that mentality of some Lions fans and why it’s lingered for so long. Because this team has hurt you, I don’t know if there’s a better way to put it. But right now is not a mirage.

Last year it became very apparent that this was a good football team. The 2024 Detroit Lions are a better football team. They have more confidence. They know even more what it takes. They went a little bit harder this off-season, added a few more veteran pieces. And they are every bit the Super Bowl contender people think they are. I think you could even call them the Super Bowl favorites. And I know that’s a weird thing to hear, but it is an appropriate and accurate description.