DETROIT—Mitchell Trubisky started and closed strong to overcome some shaky decisions and plays in between to keep the Bears in the NFC playoff picture.Trubisky threw a go-ahead, 3-yard touchdown pass to David Montgomery with 2:17 left, lifting the Bears to a 24-20 win over the slumping Detroit Lions on Thursday.The Bears took the lead on the nine-play, 90-yard drive in which Trubisky converted a pair of third downs with 35- and 32-yard passes Anthony Miller.”He made special throws at special times,” coach Matt Nagy said.

The Bears sealed the victory on the ensuing possession with Eddie Jackson’s interception.Rookie quarterback David Blough led Detroit’s last drive to the Bears 26 in the final minute before losing 13 yards on a sack to leave a desperation pass as the only option and Jackson picked off his heave.The Bears (6-6) have won three of four games after losing four in a row, keeping their postseason hopes alive.

”We put ourselves in a good position to have another big game next week,” Trubisky said.

The Lions (3-8-1) have lost five straight for the first time under second-year coach Matt Patricia.

Detroit led for much of the game despite starting a quarterback it acquired from Cleveland for a swap of seventh-round picks after training camp.

”Watch that team fight and rally behind somebody like that, I think you can tell how much all those men in that room care about each other,” Patricia said.

Matthew Stafford was out for a fourth straight game with back and hip injuries and his backup, Jeff Driskel, was limited by a hamstring injury.Blough, an undrafted player from Purdue, threw a 75-yard TD on his first completion to Kenny Golladay to pull the Lions into a 7-all tie. Blough threw an 8-yard TD pass to Marvin Jones late in the first quarter to put Detroit ahead 14-7.Trubisky had an 18-yard TD pass to rookie tight end Jesper Horsted to make it 17-all late in the third quarter.Trubisky finished 29 of 38 with three TDs, matching a season high he also equaled in a win over Detroit earlier this month, for 338 yards and an interception. He got off to a strong start with a 10-yard pass to Allen Robinson and closed the game well enough for Chicago to score more than 20 points for the first time in more than a month.Blough was 22 of 38 for 280 yards with two TDs and an interception.

”This is what you dream about as a kid,” Blough said. ”I’m thankful for it all, all the ups and downs.”

Kyle Fuller may have prevented Detroit from scoring a tiebreaking TD early in the fourth quarter when he stopped J.D. McKissic in the open field on third-and-1.

Khalil Mack gave the Bears the lift they needed with the type of big play he had not been delivering.Mack set up a touchdown with a strip-sack, Allen Robinson had a season-high 131 yards receiving and the Bears beat the struggling New York Giants 19-14 on Sunday.Trying to salvage something from a disappointing season, the Bears (5-6) bounced back from a loss to the Los Angeles Rams to win for the second time in three games. The Giants (2-9) dropped their seventh straight and clinched their third losing season in a row.Mack broke through in the third quarter for just his second sack in seven games. Held without a tackle at Los Angeles, the three-time All-Pro nailed Jones deep in New York territory, and Nick Williams recovered at the 3. That led to a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to make it 19-7.

”Turnovers are huge, especially down the stretch,” Mack said. ”No surprise that that one was a huge play down the stretch. That’s what we needed to win the game.”

New York cut the lead to five with 4:10 left in the game when Golden Tate hauled in a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-18. The Bears then went three-and-out before Pat O’Donnell pinned the Giants at the 6 with a 61-yard punt, and the Bears hung on from there.Trubisky threw for a season-high 278 yards, including a touchdown to Robinson, and two interceptions after missing the final drive the previous week because of a right hip pointer. Robinson had six catches, and the defending NFC North champions gave their frustrated fans something to cheer.

”I’m happy we won, but it’s not good enough, not really good enough,” Trubisky said

EVANSTON—Minnesota was eager to get back on the field – and it showed.Tanner Morgan led No. 11 Minnesota to scores on its first three possessions and finished with four touchdown passes, and the Gophers bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 38-22 win over Northwestern on Saturday.The Gophers (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) clinched a share of the West Division title along with their first 10-win season since 2003 and sixth in the program’s 138-year history. They’ll play No. 14 Wisconsin at home next Saturday with a spot in the conference championship game at stake.Following the loss to the Hawkeyes, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said his team ”wanted to get that taste out of their mouth so bad.”

The Gophers wasted no time.

”The word of the week was `respond,’ ” Fleck said. ”We needed to, and they responded. That was a clear message from the beginning, that we had to start fast.”That’s what championship football looks like – come out of the gate and put 21 points on the board like that.”

Morgan, the Big Ten’s leading passer, was sharp following a week in the concussion protocol after absorbing back-to-back sacks by the Hawkeyes. The redshirt sophomore, listed as questionable until Saturday morning, has thrown 26 touchdown passes this season to set a school record.

”We knew we had to come out fast, come out firing,” Morgan said. ”We always talk about starting fast, accelerating in the middle and finishing strong.”Fleck said Morgan was almost his old self, despite an abbreviated week of practice.

”Got to give him credit with the limited amount of reps he had to be able to play like he did,” Fleck said. ”There were some things he was just a little off on today.”

Morgan threw three TD passes to Rashod Bateman and one to Tyler Johnson against Northwestern (2-9, 0-8). Bateman finished with 78 receiving yards and Johnson had 125, giving Minnesota its first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in season.Rodney Smith finished with 77 rushing yards to give him 1,063 for the season.Morgan zipped a 19-yard TD pass to Bateman in the corner of the end zone to end a 10-play, 56-yard drive on Minnesota’s first possession.

Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears finally gave their frustrated fans something to celebrate.The defending NFC North champions got their offense in gear, snapped their four-game losing streak and let loose afterward.Trubisky tied a season high with three touchdown passes, and the Bears withstood a late charge by Detroit with Jeff Driskel filling in for injured quarterback Matthew Stafford, beating the Lions 20-13 on Sunday.Detroit ruled out the 31-year-old Stafford hours before kickoff because of hip and back injuries, ending his streak of 136 consecutive starts. It was the first time he missed a regular-season game since 2010.The Bears (4-5) quieted the boos by getting its struggling offense going late in the first half, scored two touchdowns early in the third quarter and hung on to win for the first time since beating Minnesota in Week 4. Detroit (3-5-1) lost for the fifth time in six games.

”Four games is a long time,” Matt Nagy said. ”I just sat back. Just to be able to watch the guys (in the postgame celebration). … They ended up doing some one-on-one dancing, which is pretty neat. It’s exciting. We enjoy it. It brings you together.”

HANGING ON

It comes at a time when the Bears looked as if they were falling apart. With soaring expectations after going from worst to first in Nagy’s first season last year, little has gone right this season. And the Bears nearly gave away a 14-point lead, with Driskel orchestrating the late push.He threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay to cut it to 20-13 with 5:53 remaining. And he led Detroit from its 10 to the Bears 25 on the game’s final drive. But with the ball on 25, he overthrew Marvin Jones Jr. in the end zone as time expired on a play that would not have counted because of an illegal forward pass penalty.

”I want to look at our team and say, wow, we really came out and fought really hard,” coach Matt Patricia said. ”Everything else that everyone is going to try to pile on the situation. Those guys just played really hard for 60 minutes. They tried to do everything they can do to win.”

BOUNCING BACK

Trubisky completed 16 of 23 passes for 173 yards in another solid outing against Detroit. It wasn’t as good as his performance against the Lions last year in a win at Soldier Field, when the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns.Trubisky got sacked five times. But overall, this was a positive step for the struggling quarterback.Taylor Gabriel, Tarik Cohen and Ben Braunecker each caught touchdowns. Nick Kwiatkoski set up a TD with his first career interception .

”I think when you go through a stretch like we did, it’s tough,” Trubisky said. ”And I think days like today you appreciate just a little bit more, just getting back to it and getting back to that good feeling of winning.”

STAFFORD SITS

Patricia said the Lions decided Sunday not to play Stafford. He described his quarterback as ”day by day, week by week” and wouldn’t get into specifics about the injury.Driskel performed rather well in his sixth career start, going 27 of 46 for 269 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also got some help from Stafford.

”He’s the unquestioned leader of this team and one of the toughest dudes I’ve ever been around, most competitive people I’ve ever been around,” Driskel said. ”So yeah, having his presence there was huge, not just for me but for the whole team.”

Matt Prater kicked two field goals for the Lions, who dropped their third straight against the Bears after winning nine of 10.Held to 9 yards in the first half against Philadelphia the previous week, the Bears punted on their first four possessions before breaking through late in the half. They went 80 yards, with Trubisky hitting Braunecker on the right side of the end zone from the 18 to make it 7-6 with 25 seconds remaining.The Bears added touchdowns on their first two drives of the third.Cohen caught a 9-yard swing pass for a touchdown after Darius Slay got called for interference trying to defend Allen Robinson. Kwiatkoski then intercepted Driskel at the Detroit 29, leading to Gabriel’s 18-yard TD catch . And Eddy Pineiro nailed the extra point after missing his previous attempt to make it 20-6.

PHILADELPHIA—When they needed it most, the Philadelphia Eagles made all the plays.Carson Wentz threw for 239 yards and one touchdown, Jordan Howard ran for 82 yards and a score and the Eagles held on for a 22-14 victory over the Bears on Sunday.The Bears had just 9 yards in the first half and trailed 19-0 before David Montgomery had a pair of 1-yard TD runs to make it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.But Philadelphia put it away with 16-play, 69-yard drive capped by Jake Elliott’s 38-yard field goal. Wentz completed all four of his third-down passes on the drive for first downs, and the Eagles held the ball for 8:14. ”We stayed on the field,” Wentz said. ”Those third downs were huge for us.” Dallas Goedert turned a screen on third-and-9 into a 16-yard gain. Miles Sanders had a 15-yard reception on third-and-12 and Alshon Jeffery bounced back from two big drops to make a 13-yard catch on third-and-3.The Eagles (5-4) have won two in a row after a pair of lopsided losses.The Bears (3-5) have lost four straight.Mitchell Trubisky was 10 of 21 for 125 yards and was sacked three times.The Bears went three-and-out on their first five possessions, gaining minus-10 yards. They didn’t get a first down until the final minute of the first half. ”The score felt a lot worse than it was,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. ”We just couldn’t get going and it snowballed. One thing after the next.” Wentz connected with Zach Ertz over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 12-0 lead in the second quarter. Elliott missed the extra point wide right.Howard ran up the middle 13 yards for a TD on the opening drive of the third quarter, extending the lead to 19-0. ”I saw a big hole and tried to hit it as fast as I could,” said Howard, who was nearly untouched. The Bears finally got going when Trubisky connected with Taylor Gabriel on a 53-yard pass to the Eagles 9 and Montgomery ran in from the 1. He leaped in from the 1 early in the fourth quarter. ”Losing sucks and you can tell we don’t like it,” Trubisky said. ”On the sideline, you’re trying to find solutions to how to spark this offense to get going. It could just be getting back to the simpler things. Go fast and let our guys roll.” The Eagles had a first down at the Bears 5 on their opening drive, but settled for a 28-yard field goal by Elliott after Eddie Goldman sacked Wentz.Elliott kicked another 28-yarder on the next drive to make it 6-0.Wentz has thrown a TD pass in 12 straight games, tied with Seattle’s Russell Wilson for longest active streak. … Eagles have won 11 of last 15 against the Bears. LB Khalil Mack had four tackles, including two for loss, one quarterback hit and one pass knockdown. … Eagles DT Genard Avery had a half-sack in his debut with his new team.Howard averaged 4.3 yards per carry in his first game against his former team. Jeffery had four receptions for 36 yards and at least two drops. ”I did a lot more talking than I usually do,” Howard said. ”There was a lot more back-and-forth with the guys.”