Prater saves the day again in Lions’ divisional win

ALL HAIL PRATER! — The Detroit Lions’ offensive line celebrates yet another game-winning field goal with under two minutes remaining from Matt Prater. (USA Today)

The NFL season is closing in on December football, and every team is looking to punch their ticket to the playoffs. The Detroit Lions, who were 5-4 coming into this week, were trying to do that with a win over the now, 3-7 Chicago Bears, 27-24.

The game was hard fought, with the Bears going up 10-0 in the first quarter. The Lions then dominated the second quarter, running up three touchdowns and put the score at 21-17 at halftime. The second half remained close, as Lions kicker Matt Prater kicked a long field goal to put his team up 27-24 late in the fourth quarter. In the final minutes of the game, Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky led the offense into field goal range. However, kicker Connor Barth failed to convert the game-tying field goal. The star of this game was Matthew Stafford, who threw the ball for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Mitchell Trubisky continues to improve, throwing for 179 yards and a touchdown. However, he did fumble a snap that the Detroit defense returned for a touchdown. The highlight of the Bears offense was running back Jordan Howard, who rushed for 125 yards on 15 carries. A big time injury for the Bears was star linebacker Leonard Floyd, who left the game with a knee injury.

The Lions needed a victory in order to keep themselves in the playoff race, the great play by Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones helped this team pull out the victory against a weak but promising Bears. The Bears, while they are having a rough season, have a bright future in the backfield with Howard, Tarik Cohen, and Trubisky. They will hope to improve against an elite Philadelphia Eagles squad next week.

The Lions pick up some more momentum as they prepare for their big showdown on Thanksgiving against the Minnesota Vikings. They will need to win that game in order to keep their playoff hopes alive and are looking to Matthew to play at an elite level in order for the Lions to win that game. One guy to watch out for in this game will be wide receiver Golden Tate, who you can almost always count on to have a huge game on turkey day. Also look for more carries from runningback Theo Riddick. If this game is anything like their previous six wins, the Lions should pull out a close win at 24-21, with another game- winning field goal from Matt Prater.