Bears hold off Lions to stay atop NFC North

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Jay Cutler threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall on Monday and the Chicago Bears (5-1) hung on for a 13-7 victory over the Detroit Lions.

The Bears remain atop of the NFC North, while the last-place Lions suffered their fourth loss in five games.

Midway through the second quarter, the Bears had a scare when Cutler was slammed to the ground on a sack by Ndamukong Suh. Cutler was on the ground for a few minutes and was attended to by a team trainer before jogging off the field. He was replaced by Jason Campbell for just one play.

Cutler threw an incomplete pass as the Bears went three and out.

But Cutler didn’t return on the Bears’ next possession. After Detroit’s Mikel Leshoure lost a fumble to Julius Peppers on the Chicago 18, Cutler was replaced again by Campbell as Cutler was getting his ribs evaluated in the locker room.

Cutler, who started the second half, was 12 of 26 for 96 yards and had 35 yards rushing after three quarters.

Back from their week off, the Bears took advantage of a dropped pass by Calvin Johnson, who was wide open for a potential big gain on third down on Detroit’s opening possession. On the Bears’ ensuing drive, Cutler kept it alive by running for 10 yards on third-and-long. One play later, Matt Forte preceded Marshall’s touchdown catch with a 39-yard run.

Chicago has already tied a club record by returning five interceptions for touchdowns — all in the past three games. They didn’t get the big play on defense, but they forced three Lions’ turnovers.

On Chicago’s third drive of the quarter, Cutler scrambled for 24 yards and 15 more yards was tacked on after Corey Williams was called for a personal foul. The Bears eventually settled for a 39-yard field goal by Robbie Gould for a 10-0 lead.

After Detroit’s defense forced a Chicago three and out on the first possession of the third quarter. Stefan Logan dropped a punt and it was recovered by Chicago’s Zack Bowman, who was signed last week. The Bears had to settle for another field goal from Gould to put them up 13-0.