Two lanes of traffic could’ve driven between where Connor Barth aimed his 46-yard field-goal try Sunday, with a chance to tie the score with eight seconds left, and where the ball landed.
After his wide-right kick landed just beyond the G in the north end zone’s “Chicago,” the Lions kneeled to seal a 27-24 victory, and Barth likely punched his ticket out of town. Coach John Fox could follow at the end of the season.
“You never want to miss,” said Barth, who missed four of his last 10 kicks before the bye. “I’ve always been a positive guy. This one kick is not gonna define me. I’ve had a good career. I just have to keep working.”
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The Bears, meanwhile, insisted that they’re closer to winning than, say, Barth’s kick was to the nearest upright.
Down three with 1:31 left, quarterback Mitch Trubisky marched 55 yards, converting a fourth-and-13 with a bold 19-yard scramble, before Barth’s miss. Five of the Bears’ seven losses have come by eight points or fewer.
“It’s encouraging during and discouraging after,” offensive tackle Bobby Massie said. “Because we don’t execute when we have the opportunities.”
The 3-7 Bears will spend their last six games developing Trubisky and other young players. Rookie tight end Adam Shaheen caught his second career touchdown pass, and running back Tarik Cohen played more snaps in the first half than he did all last week. Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, though, suffered a serious knee injury in the fourth quarter and could be lost for the season.
“A loss sucks,” guard Kyle Long said. “But being competitive is something we should look at as a positive.”
One week after an uninspired effort, the Bears’ scripted offense was creative early, although they settled for a 23-yard field goal on their first drive. After defensive end Akiem Hicks recovered a Matthew Stafford fumble, Jordan Howard ran 50 yards to reach the Lions’ 5, setting up Shaheen’s score.
“It is nice not to run the ball against a field-goal-block [formation] every time, yeah,” Long said. “We got the guy who can throw the ball, and we got the guys who can catch the ball now.”
With the Bears up 10-0, Trubisky’s fumbled snap was returned 27 yards by cornerback D.J. Hayden for a score. Howard, who carried 15 times for 125 yards, ran for a 12-yard touchdown before Stafford threw two touchdown passes to take a 21-17 halftime lead.
The Bears punted three times in a scoreless third quarter.
“We have lulls, we have siestas,” Fox said. “We just don’t do it for 60 minutes.”
The Lions’ only points in the second half came on fourth-quarter field goals sandwiched around Cohen’s 15-yard touchdown run and dive at the left pylon. Matt Prater made a 52-yard field goal with 1:35 to play before Barth’s miss.
“Call a spade a spade — we’re not loaded with incredible talent everywhere,” Massie said. “But we have a great team. We have some hard-fighting [guys] on both sides of the ball. We’re gonna fight to the end.
“But with all this fighting, we always end up coming up short. We just gotta keep chopping until we get a win.”
Follow me on Twitter @patrickfinley.
Email: pfinley@suntimes.com
