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Four-quarter surge propels Lions past Bears

Sep 30, 2007 - 10:27 PM By Chuck Klonke PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DETROIT (Ticker) - It took the Detroit Lions three quarters to erupt - and once they did, there was no stopping them.

Detroit scored five touchdowns in the fourth quarter to defeat the Chicago Bears, 37-27, on Sunday.

"This game was probably like me - ugly," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "It was also like me, because it was a fight. Our three wins have all been street fights. I challenged this team during the week, and they stepped up."

The 34 points the Lions scored in the fourth is an NFL record for the final quarter.

Jon Kitna's 15-yard touchdown pass to Troy Walters capped a flurry of three Detroit touchdowns in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. It was originally ruled that Walters, who caught the ball in the corner of the end zone, was out-of-bounds - but Detroit challenged the call and it was overturned.

"It was a big challenge," Walters said. "I give credit to the replay people. They put it up pretty quick because I wasn't sure if I was in or out. You don't want to waste challenges because you need those timeouts. They put it up quick and saw that it was definitely a touchdown and made the right decision."

The Lions (3-1) scored again on a five-yard run by Kevin Jones with 3:34 left in the game.

"KJ is a great football player," Kitna said. "He's somebody that we need to be healthy and to participate in our football team. With him, we're a better football team than we are without him."

Chicago (1-3) relied on its special teams to keep it in the game.

Devin Hester's 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown came after cornerback Keith Smith had given the Lions a 17-13 lead with a 64-yard interception return. It was the second touchdown return of the season for Hester, who set an NFL record with six touchdown returns in 2006.

"He's (Hester) a special guy and I had just told Don Muhlbach that if anybody in this stadium can silence this crowd, it's No. 23 and that's what he did," Lions wideout Roy Williams said. "We keep going back to Coach Marinelli when he said don't blink and this team didn't blink."

The Lions returned the favor in the game's waning moments, when Casey Fitzsimmons returned the Bears' onside kick 41 yards for the final score.

Detroit cut Chicago's lead to 13-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter when Kitna passed four yards to Shaun McDonald in the corner of the end zone.

Kitna finished 20-of-24 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

Chicago quarterback Brian Griese had his troubles in his first start since Bears coach Lovie Smith benched Rex Grossman on Wednesday.

Griese finished 34-of-52 for 286 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions.

"He wasn't good enough," Smith said bluntly. "The quarterback has to protect the football. I never thought of changing quarterbacks."

Chicago, which led 7-3 at halftime, got a pair of third-quarter field goals from Robbie Gould. The first, a 49-yarder, was set up by Hester's 19-yard punt return, and his second, from 41 yards, was set up by a 31-yard punt return by Hester.

Detroit opened the scoring with a 49-yard field goal by Jason Hanson. It was set up when Shaun Rogers blocked Gould's 52-yard field goal attempt.

"It's just something I like doing, I guess," Rogers said of his 10th career block.

Kenoy Kennedy picked up the loose ball and returned it 31 yards. A 15-yard personal foul penalty was tacked on to give Detroit the ball on the Chicago 27, but the Lions were unable to get a first down.

Chicago's only touchdown of the first half was also set up by a blocked field goal. Danieal Manning blocked Hanson's 39-yard attempt, and the Bears marched 71 yards in nine plays with Griese hitting Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard touchdown score.

Chicago threatened again just before the first half ended, but Griese's pass was intercepted at the goal line by Detroit cornerback Fernando Bryant.

"We didn't get a lot of offense today - running or passing," Smith said. "There aren't a lot of positive things to talk about today. The good thing is, we've only played a quarter of the season. There's time to change course but we have to change course quickly."

"We are 1-3," Griese said. "You are what your record says you are. (For us) 2006 doesn't matter right now, we've got 2007. It's about how we're going to respond."

The Bears were missing several key defensive players, including linebacker Lance Briggs, safety Adam Archuleta and starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher, but they still managed to hold the Lions to 97 total yards in the first half.

"We keep beating ourselves," said Bears running back Cedric Benson, who had just 50 yards on 15 carries. "We're making so many mistakes in the red zones - fumbles, interceptions and bad plays. We can't keep doing this if we want to win any games."

Detroit played without rookie wide receiver Calvin Johnson, starting right guard Damien Woody and defensive end Kalimba Edwards.