5 things we learned in the Lions’ 20-10 win over the Bears on Saturday

The Detroit Lions kept their playoff hopes alive with a strong win over the NFC North rival Chicago Bears on Saturday, 20-10. Detroit, now 8-6 on the season, still need some help from other teams, but it remains in the discussion for a wild card spot.

Matthew Stafford threw for a pair of touchdowns while the Detroit defense secured three interceptions of Mitchell Trubisky. One of those interceptions came in the end zone in the fourth quarter, on one of the Bears’ best drives of the game. That took all the wind out of their sails, as the Lions already had a multi-score lead at the time.

Chicago did manage a touchdown later in the fourth, but again, it was too little, too late. When it tried to follow up that touchdown with another, Trubisky threw his third interception.

Detroit trailed the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, and Atlanta Falcons in the wild card playoff picture going into Sunday’s games. With this win, they’re in a good spot, but they still need to wait for the the results of several other games this weekend to see where they stand at the end of Week 15.

Chicago entered the game already eliminated from playoff contention, and they failed in their mission to play spoiler to the Lions on Sunday. Below are some things we learned from Sunday’s action.

In the first half, after a pair of field goals, the Lions faced a third-and-18 from their own 30-yard line. Stafford has always been very good at making something out of nothing, and he definitely did it at this point. He found Marvin Jones for a 58-yard reception that set up the eventual touchdown to T.J. Jones.

Bears rookie Tarik Cohen had a 90-yard kickoff return nullified by a penalty. It was a great return where he made multiple players miss and was only brought down at the last moment. It came after a Lions touchdown, and at a time where the Bears sorely needed it. Unfortunately, a holding penalty on DeAndre Houston-Carson brought the ball back to the 10-yard line.

Against the 49ers in Week 13, Cohen had a 67-yard punt return called back due to an illegal block penalty. It’s been that kind of season for the promising rookie.

Trubisky has had a few good games this season, but he is still without a serious standout performance. He played so-so football in two of Chicago’s three wins with him under center. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, he threw for 271 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and also rushed for one touchdown. That’s the closest he’s been thus far.

But nothing the first-round pick has shown has been truly inspiring for the Bears. He’s shown some poise and has occasionally completed a good percentage of his passes, but he’s still thrown some bad interceptions — including three against the Lions on Saturday. Trubisky’s lone touchdown pass came late in the game when it was out of reach.

Teams aren’t yet treating him as a threat.

Golden Tate is a great wide receiver. So great, in fact, that he can freeze a defensive back straight to the turf without even pulling much of a move. He’s also got some slick ballerina moves, as you can see shortly after he dispatches the aforementioned defensive back.

So cold. So ruthless. So beautiful.

For the Bears, the focus is on NFL draft positioning. They’re trying to win games, of course, but they entered the week possessing the No. 6 overall pick, second among three teams with a 4-9 record. The loss on Saturday drops them to 4-10, the only team in the league to possess such a record, and — for now — they move up to fifth in the draft order.