DETROIT—The Bears finished the season 7-9 by scoring when they needed to late to defeat the Detroit Lions 37-23,but it wasnt a dominant effort. In a so called sold out Ford Field,but with tons of empty seats,the crummiest matchup of the NFL’s final regular season weekend got under way with the Bears winning the coin toss and marhing through a porus Lions defense to the Detriot 26,but the 54 yard drive suddenly stalled and Robbie Gould kicked a 44 yard field goal just 5:11 into the game.Donte Culpepper,who was booed by the home fans as he took the field,did not endear himself on his second pass when he overthrew everyone except for the Bears Zach Bowan who had a very easy interception which he returned to the Lions 41. On first down,Jay Cutler went for the home run,but the pass went through the hands of a wide open Devin Hester at the 5 and the Bears went three and out.The Lions used the running of Mo Morris to gain a first down,and with a third a one facing Detroit,some moron ran onto the field and ran all the way to the north end zone before security caught him. Then Aaron Brown was stuffed on third down and Nick Harris punted to the Bears 13. That also was followed by three downs and a punt after a Cutler third down pass was dropped bu Matt Forte. Brad Maynard shanked hit punt just 28 yards to the Bears 28. Culpepper hit Calvin Johnson for 23 yards to the Bears 32,but the Bears held and Jason Hanson tied the game with a 42 yard field goal. Hester returned the kickoff 44 yards to the Bears 46.On the Bears next possession they went 44 yards in 8 plays,the key being when Cutler found Greg Olsen on a 34 yard pass to the Detroit 10, but a run for no gain by Forte and two incompletions later, Gould kicked a 28 yard field goal.After an exchange of puntsthe Lions started at the Bears 42 and became the first team to find the end zone in 7 plays.Culpepper capped it with a pin point 10 yard TD pass over the middle to Bryant Johnson and Detroit led for the first time 10-6 with 2:59 remaining in the half. The Bears had a nice two minute drive with Cutler hitting Earl Bennett for 17 to the Lions 25 and a 14 yarder to Hester at the 11.Finally, on a third down from the 7, Cutler hit Olsen over the middle for the Bears first TD with :11 left to give the Bears a 13-10 halftime lead. The Bears arried their momentu into the 2nd half. On the Lions first possession of the third quarter, they tried a fake punt and were stuffed at their own 39.The Bears drove to the Lions 9 after a 16 yard Cutler to Hester pass, then a wide open Devin Aromashodu took in a 9 yard TD pass to up the Bears lead to 20-10. The Lions responded with a drive of 48 yards in 8 plays and on a fourth and one,the fans booed loudly when Lions Coach Jim Schwartz sent out the field goal unit. Nonetheless, Hanson booted a 48 yarder to trim the Bears lead to 20-13.That was how the third period ended. The Bears had to punt and Detroit took over at their own 42. Culpepper tossed an 18 yard pass to Calvin Johnson.They had a fourth and three from the 33,but Culpepper hit Bryant Johnson with consecutive 12 yarders to set up a first and goal at the 9.One play later B.Johnson made a leaping grab for 4 yard TD reception to tie the game 20-20 with 9:37 left in the game(and season).Hester took the kickoff three yards in his own end zone and only got to his own 13,but the Bears went through the Lions quikly.On third down, Cutler hit Hester in stride for 38 yards to the Lions 34,then a 31 yarder to Olsen at the 3.The Lions next picked up a defensive holding penalty and Cutler found the most wide open Desmond Clark to regain the lead 27-20. Detroit got to the Bears 14 but stalled and Hanson,to the chagrin of the home fans,booted a 32 yard field goal to slice the Bears lead to 27-23 with 4:38 remaining. Again, Hester was slopped quickly on the kickoff at his own 15.Forte then broke the Lions backs with a 53 yard run all the way to the Detroit 17 which led to a third down 12 yard TD pass to Aromashodu whih iced the game.The Bears got the ball one last time when Derrick Williams fumbled the kickoff and Tim Shaw recovered for the Bears at the Lions 24.Three plays after that, Gould kicked his third field goal of the day, a 34 yarder to finish the scoring.

NOTES—Attendance was announced as 56,677,but there were at least 25,000 empty seats…..Cutler was 22-36 for 276 yards, 4 TD’s and zero interceptions.His passer rating was 122.0…..Culpepper finished 23-34 for 262 yards, 2 TD’s and 1 interception.His rating was 97.9……Forte had 16 rushes for 101 yards…..Olsen caught 5 passes for 94 yards and a TD, Aromaahodu caught 5 for 46 yards and 2 scores.

LES