The second NFC North game of the season took place in Detroit, when the Bears played the winless Lions. Although the Bears led the all-time series 96-69-5, the Lions had won the last four meetings. The Bears' offensive players had success against Detroit in the past: in 12 career games against the Lions, Jay Cutler threw for 2,669 yards, 17 touchdowns, seven interceptions and an 89.9 passer rating, while Matt Forte (in 14 games) had 1,066 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns and four touchdown receptions, his most against any opponent. A potential weakness that Forte and the Bears rushing attack could exploit was the Lions' run defense; with the departures of defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, the run defense, which had allowed a league-low 69.3 rushing yards per game in 2014, regressed in 2015, allowing 126.6 yards per game (ranked 27th in the league). The Lions pass defense also suffered during the season: the Lions allowed quarterbacks to complete 78 percent of passes and a league-high combined 128.7 passer rating, while also allowing the second-most plays of 20 yards or more, with 25. To take advantage of this, the Bears saw the returns of Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Royal and Martellus Bennett from injuries. As for the Bears defense, they faced an offense that recorded 4.9 yards per play, ranked 29th in the NFL. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had also struggled, having an average of 6.2 yards per pass, the worst in his six-year career, and had been benched in the Lions' week five game against Arizona. Detroit running backs also struggled, averaging only 2.8 yards per carry. As a whole, the Lions offense led the league in turnovers with 15. On special teams, the Lions led the league in kickoff returns of at least 20 yards, with running back Ameer Abdullah leading the NFL in the same category with nine. Terrence Mitchell, Antrel Rolle, runningback Antone Smith, linebacker Shea McClellin, tackle Nick Becton, Jermon Bushrod and nose tackle Bruce Gaston were inactive. The Bears won the toss and deferred. The Lions' opening drive concluded with a touchdown when Lance Moore beat Sherrick McManis to score on a 20-yard touchdown. Chicago retaliated with ten unanswered points via Robbie Gould's 27-yard field goal and Jeremy Langford's one-yard touchdown run, the latter occurring in the second quarter. The Lions reclaimed the lead with Stafford's eight-yard touchdown pass to Tim Wright, though the Bears managed to score three points with Gould's 23-yard kick. Late in the first half, the Lions reached the Bears' two-yard line, where Stafford threw a pass to Golden Tate; as he crossed the goal line, he was stripped by Kyle Fuller, with the pass being intercepted by Jonathan Anderson and ruled a touchback. However, referee Walt Coleman ruled the play as a touchdown, stating that Tate "took three steps and broke the plane." On Chicago's first drive of the second half, the offense, aided by Cutler's 46-yard pass to Marquess Wilson, reached the Detroit five, but Cutler's pass for Jeffery in the endzone was intercepted by Rashean Mathis. The Bears nearly regained the ball on the Lions' ensuing possession when Sam Acho stripped Abdullah, but Abdullah managed to recover. Eventually, the Lions punted, and when the Bears also punted on the next possession, T. J. Jones muffed it, and Josh Bellamy recovered. Gould later kicked a 38-yard field goal. On the Lions' next series, the Bears defense struggled, allowing Stafford to complete passes of 42 and 16 yards to Tate and Theo Riddick, respectively, followed by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Tate, though it was nullified by Calvin Johnson's holding penalty. The Bears were forced to punt again, but Pat O'Donnell's punt hit Corey Fuller in the leg and safety Chris Prosinski recovered. In the fourth quarter, the Bears scored on Cutler's 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeffery, and regained possession quickly when Stafford's toss to Riddick deflected off of his hand and Anderson intercepted it. The Bears gained the lead with Forte's two-yard run, followed by Cutler's two-point conversion pass to Forte. However, the Lions took the lead with their next two scores: Matt Prater's 32-yard field goal and Stafford's six-yard touchdown pass to Johnson. With 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Bears drove 69 yards to the Lions' 11, where Gould tied the game with a 29-yard kick. In overtime, the first four drives ended with punts, and on the fifth, Prater kicked a 27-yard field goal to claim the 37-34 win. The game featured three controversial officiating calls. Regarding the second quarter Tate touchdown, Fox NFL commentator Ronde Barber and Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira believed Tate had not controlled the ball while falling to the turf. On the contrary, NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino stated that Tate "controlled the pass right at the goal line. This is not a receiver who is going to the ground. He is taking his third step, he had demonstrated possession, had become a runner." Late in the fourth quarter, Pernell McPhee was penalized for roughing the passer when it appeared that he had been pushed into Stafford. During the Lions' game-winning drive in overtime, Willie Young was held, but no penalty was called. Due to the NFL's policies on criticizing officials, Cutler did not comment, while John Fox stated, "We're not allowed to talk about officials."

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