Jake Bates lined up for a 42-yard field goal on the game’s final play at Soldier Field, and his kick split the uprights to hand the Detroit Lions a 19-16 win they had nearly let slip. Detroit led 16-0 entering the fourth quarter. By the time Caleb Williams finished a furious Chicago rally, the lead was gone and the season came down to one last swing of Bates’ right leg.
Chicago had already clinched the NFC North and was playing only for seeding. Detroit, eliminated from contention, was closing a year that began with Super Bowl expectations. The three-point final did not reflect the play. The Lions outgained the Bears 433 to 270, held the ball for nearly 36 minutes, and never trailed. What follows is the complete box score and player stats from the regular-season finale.
Table of Contents
Bears vs Lions final score
Detroit won 19-16 on Bates’ field goal as time expired, after Chicago erased a 16-0 deficit with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Team
1
2
3
4
Final
Detroit Lions
3
10
3
3
19
Chicago Bears
0
0
0
16
16
Who were the statistical leaders?
Jared Goff threw for a game-high 331 yards and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 11 passes for 139. Jahmyr Gibbs led the rushing with 80 yards, while Williams put up 212 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago.
Category
Lions leader
Bears leader
Passing
Jared Goff, 331 yds (27/42, 1 TD, 1 INT)
Caleb Williams, 212 yds (20/33, 2 TD, 1 INT)
Rushing
Jahmyr Gibbs, 80 yds (19 car)
D’Andre Swift, 40 yds (10 car)
Receiving
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 139 yds (11 rec)
Colston Loveland, 91 yds (10 rec, 1 TD)
Tackles
Jack Campbell, 11
Tremaine Edmunds, 8
Sacks
Aidan Hutchinson, 1
Andrew Billings, 1
How did the Bears erase a 16-0 lead?
Williams threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, to Jahdae Walker and Colston Loveland, and Chicago converted a two-point try after each to draw level at 16. Detroit answered on the final drive, with a 26-yard catch by St. Brown setting up the winning kick.
Qtr
Time
Scoring play
DET
CHI
1
8:35
Jake Bates 34-yard field goal
3
0
2
11:28
Jake Bates 30-yard field goal
6
0
2
4:40
Jahmyr Gibbs 15-yard pass from Jared Goff (Bates kick)
13
0
3
2:11
Jake Bates 25-yard field goal
16
0
4
14:16
Jahdae Walker 25-yard pass from Caleb Williams (Monangai run)
16
8
4
5:25
Colston Loveland 1-yard pass from Caleb Williams (Williams to Kmet)
16
16
4
0:00
Jake Bates 42-yard field goal
19
16
Passing
Goff completed 27 of 42 attempts for 331 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Williams went 20 of 33 for 212 yards and two scores, with one pass picked off in the end zone.
Detroit passing
Player
C/Att
Yds
TD
INT
Sacks
Rtg
Jared Goff
27/42
331
1
1
2-15
86.5
David Montgomery
0/0
0
0
0
1-5
0.0
Team
27/42
311
1
1
3-20
86.5
Chicago passing
Player
C/Att
Yds
TD
INT
Sacks
Rtg
Caleb Williams
20/33
212
2
1
1-7
86.9
Team
20/33
205
2
1
1-7
86.9
Rushing
Gibbs carried 19 times for 80 yards, and Montgomery added 42 on eight attempts. Swift led Chicago with 40 yards on 10 carries.
Detroit rushing
Player
Att
Yds
Avg
TD
Long
Jahmyr Gibbs
19
80
4.2
0
14
David Montgomery
8
42
5.3
0
9
Team
27
122
4.5
0
14
Chicago rushing
Player
Att
Yds
Avg
TD
Long
D’Andre Swift
10
40
4.0
0
10
Kyle Monangai
6
14
2.3
0
6
Luther Burden III
1
10
10.0
0
10
Caleb Williams
1
1
1.0
0
1
Team
18
65
3.6
0
10
Receiving
St. Brown led all receivers with 139 yards on 11 catches, most of it before halftime. Loveland paced the Bears with 91 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions.
Detroit receiving
Player
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Long
Tgts
Amon-Ra St. Brown
11
139
12.6
0
30
15
Jameson Williams
6
74
12.3
0
23
8
Kalif Raymond
3
52
17.3
0
24
3
Jahmyr Gibbs
3
33
11.0
1
15
5
Isaac TeSlaa
1
18
18.0
0
18
1
David Montgomery
1
13
13.0
0
13
1
Anthony Firkser
2
2
1.0
0
6
3
Team
27
331
12.3
1
30
36
Chicago receiving
Player
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Long
Tgts
Colston Loveland
10
91
9.1
1
27
13
Jahdae Walker
2
36
18.0
1
25
3
Luther Burden III
3
35
11.7
0
13
4
Cole Kmet
2
16
8.0
0
19
3
Kyle Monangai
1
15
15.0
0
15
1
DJ Moore
1
11
11.0
0
11
3
D’Andre Swift
1
8
8.0
0
8
2
Team
20
212
10.6
2
27
29
Defense
Jack Campbell led the game with 11 tackles, and Aidan Hutchinson recorded Detroit’s only sack. Tremaine Edmunds, Jaquan Brisker, and Kevin Byard each finished with eight stops for Chicago, and Byard’s interception nearly turned the result.
Detroit defense
Player
Tot
Solo
Sacks
TFL
PD
QB Hits
Jack Campbell
11
4
0
0
1
0
Daniel Thomas
7
2
0
0
0
0
Aidan Hutchinson
6
4
1
1
0
2
Malcolm Rodriguez
4
4
0
1
0
0
Avonte Maddox
4
3
0
0
1
0
Rock Ya-Sin
4
2
0
0
1
2
Derrick Barnes
3
3
0
0
1
0
Jalen Mills
2
2
0
0
0
0
D.J. Reed
2
1
0
0
0
0
Tyler Lacy
2
1
0
0
0
0
Mekhi Wingo
2
1
0
0
0
0
Tyleik Williams
1
1
0
1
1
0
Tyrus Wheat
1
1
0
0
0
0
Trevor Nowaske
1
1
0
0
0
0
Chris Hubbard
1
0
0
0
0
0
Amik Robertson
1
0
0
0
0
0
Grant Stuard
1
0
0
0
0
0
Hogan Hatten
1
0
0
0
0
0
Sione Vaki
1
0
0
0
0
0
Isaac TeSlaa
1
0
0
0
0
0
Team
56
30
1
3
5
4
Chicago defense
Player
Tot
Solo
Sacks
TFL
PD
QB Hits
Tremaine Edmunds
8
7
0
0
0
0
Jaquan Brisker
8
5
0
0
2
0
Kevin Byard
8
2
0
0
1
0
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
6
5
0
0
0
0
Nahshon Wright
6
5
0
0
0
0
Jaylon Johnson
5
5
0
0
0
0
Andrew Billings
4
3
1
1
0
2
Gervon Dexter Sr.
4
2
1
1
0
3
T.J. Edwards
4
2
0
0
1
0
Montez Sweat
4
2
0.5
0
0
2
Grady Jarrett
3
2
0.5
0
1
1
Jaylon Jones
3
2
0
0
0
0
Austin Booker
3
0
0
0
1
0
Dominique Robinson
2
2
0
1
0
0
Durham Smythe
1
1
0
0
0
0
Chris Williams
1
1
0
0
0
0
Travis Homer
1
1
0
0
0
0
D’Marco Jackson
1
1
0
0
0
0
Scott Daly
1
0
0
0
0
0
Daniel Hardy
1
0
0
0
0
0
Nikola Kalinic
1
0
0
0
0
0
Team
75
48
3
3
6
8
Turnovers
Each side committed one turnover. Avonte Maddox picked off Williams in the end zone in the third quarter. Late in the fourth, Byard returned a tipped Goff pass to the Chicago 5.
Interceptions
Team
Player
INT
Yds
TD
Detroit
Avonte Maddox
1
0
0
Chicago
Kevin Byard
1
21
0
Fumbles
Team
Player
Fum
Lost
Rec
Chicago
Caleb Williams
1
0
1
Detroit did not fumble.
Special teams
Bates made four of five field goals, missing only a 53-yard attempt before halftime. Chicago attempted no field goals or extra points, since both of its touchdowns were followed by two-point conversions.
Kicking
Team
Player
FG
Long
XP
Pts
Detroit
Jake Bates
4/5
42
1/1
13
Punting
Team
Player
No
Yds
Avg
In 20
Long
Detroit
Jack Fox
2
93
46.5
1
59
Chicago
Tory Taylor
4
178
44.5
0
54
Kick returns
Team
Player
No
Yds
Avg
Long
TD
Detroit
Tom Kennedy
2
40
20.0
23
0
Chicago
Devin Duvernay
3
76
25.3
27
0
Chicago
Josh Blackwell
1
30
30.0
30
0
Punt returns
Team
Player
No
Yds
Avg
Long
TD
Detroit
Kalif Raymond
3
33
11.0
14
0
Chicago
Devin Duvernay
1
15
15.0
15
0
Team stats
Detroit controlled the macro numbers, with 433 total yards to 270 and a possession edge of more than 11 minutes. The Lions ran 72 plays to Chicago’s 52 and picked up 26 first downs to 16.
Stat
Detroit
Chicago
First downs
26
16
Passing first downs
17
10
Rushing first downs
7
4
First downs by penalty
2
2
Third down efficiency
6-13
4-11
Fourth down efficiency
0-0
1-2
Total plays
72
52
Total yards
433
270
Total drives
9
8
Yards per play
6.0
5.2
Net passing yards
311
205
Completions/attempts
27/42
20/33
Yards per pass
6.9
6.0
Sacks-yards lost
3-20
1-7
Rushing yards
122
65
Rushing attempts
27
18
Yards per rush
4.5
3.6
Red zone (made-att)
1-4
1-1
Penalties
6-35
4-25
Turnovers
1
1
Fumbles lost
0
0
Possession
35:45
24:15
Game information
Date
Sunday, January 4, 2026
Venue
Soldier Field, Chicago
Attendance
57,036
Television
FOX
Referee
Brad Rogers
What the result settled
Bates carried Detroit, making four of five field goals with his only miss a 53-yard attempt before halftime. Williams walked away with a milestone of his own. His 212 passing yards gave him 3,942 for the season, breaking Erik Kramer’s 1995 franchise record and leaving Chicago as the only NFL team that has never produced a 4,000-yard passer.
The win locked the Bears into the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a home wild-card game. It sent the Lions into the offseason at 9-8, a fourth straight winning season and their first such run since the early 1970s. Detroit had also handled Chicago 52-21 back in Week 2. The Lions beat the NFC North champions twice in 2025 and still watched the playoffs from home.
Elizabeth J. Luna founded Sports Player Stats in Los Angeles in April 2026, after close to two decades covering sport professionally across Europe and the United States. She grew up in Sweden, where football was less a hobby than a household religion, and carried that obsession west when she relocated to Los Angeles in her twenties. The NFL took hold quickly. So did the NBA. Eventually she was covering both alongside FIFA, cricket, MLB, hockey, and the WNBA, which tells you something about the kind of sports journalist she is. Her work has always started with match data and player statistics, not because numbers are the whole story, but because in her experience they are usually the most honest part of it. She launched Sports Player Stats because she wanted a publication that took every sport seriously on its own terms, one where a cricket innings and an NBA box score received the same standard of analysis. That standard is what she shows up to defend every day.
