Bears defense surrenders late lead in loss

Lesson learned: Fields regretted throwing the screen pass to Kmet that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

“Just a dumb play,” Fields said. “I can assure you that will never happen again for the rest of my career. Screen, being sifted out, tried to move him a little bit and tried to float it over to Cole and just overthrew it. Just got to dirt it and play the next play.”

Crucial miss: Santos made his only field-goal attempt of the game from 33 yards, extending his streak to 20 in a row, including all 14 he’s tried this season. But he missed an extra point for the first time since kicking in monsoon-like conditions in Week 1, pushing his attempt wide left after the Bears had broken a 24-24 tie on Fields’ 67-yard TD dash.

“I’ll have to watch the film and make the corrections I need to make,” Santos said. “Sometimes it happens. I’ve just got to see what went wrong. How the ball flew, something tells me that something in the operation [was off]. It comes down to me trusting everything and going through it.”

On the shelf: Right guard Teven Jenkins (hip), defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (knee) and cornerback Kindle Vildor (ankle) sat out Sunday’s game with injuries. Michael Schofield III started in place of Jenkins, while Dominique Robinson replaced Muhammad.

Healthy scratches were receivers Velus Jones Jr. and N’Keal Harry, cornerback Harrison Hand and guard Ja’Tyre Carter.

Receiver Byron Pringle returned to action after missing six games with a calf injury he sustained in a Week 3 win over the Texans, catching one pass for 12 yards. Veteran receiver Chase Claypoolhad one reception for eight yards.

This and that: Khalil Herbert‘s 50-yard kickoff return was the Bears’ longest of the season and matched his career long, set on his first NFL touch on the opening kickoff of last year’s season opener … After failing to record a tackle-for-loss last weekend against the Dolphins, the Bears defense registered eight Sunday—three by Morrow, two by Sanborn and Justin Jones and one by Armon Watts … In losing for the sixth time in seven games since a 2-1 start, the Bears (3-7) slipped into last place in the NFC North … The Lions snapped a 13-game road winless streak. Detroit had gone 0-12-1 since its last road victory, a 34-30 decision over the Bears Dec. 6, 2020 at Soldier Field.