Bears RB Taquan Mizzell on first NFL touchdown: ‘I was gonna win’

DETROIT — Running back Taquan Mizzell was happy when the Bears called his favorite play, then was thrilled when he saw the Lions in man coverage.

“I had in my mind that I might get a chance to score,” Mizzell said after the Bears’ 23-16 victory Thursday. “If they went man, I was gonna win.”

He did — with a little help from wide receiver Allen Robinson, who ran a curl route that picked Mizzell’s man and allowed him to run open down the left sideline. Quarterback Chase Daniel found him for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Bears installed the play Wednesday morning, and Mizzell correctly thought it would work.

Even with a flag on the ground, Mizzell figured he’d celebrate his first NFL touchdown anyway. It appeared Robinson was going to be called for offensive pass interference for the pick.

Then the officials huddled and picked it up. Referee Brad Allen said his crew was ready to call pass interference before “another official who had a different view of the play came in and offered information, and we picked the flag up.”

Appearing in his fourth game this season, Mizzell had two catches for 21 yards and one carry for seven.

“He has a good mix of being able to do things in the run game and in the pass game; he’s able to make some plays,” coach Matt Nagy said. “We feel like we have some advantages with him in the pass game, and then he’s able to run the ball, too.”

Cohen scores, sleeps

Running back Tarik Cohen curled up with the football and pretended to take a nap after catching a 14-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. He lined up as a fullback and raced past Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson to get open down the right flank.

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“We’ve had that play in our playbook for several weeks now,” Nagy said. “And I was not going back to the game plan with the quarterbacks next week with that play on the call sheet. . . . Chase made a great throw; Tarik ran a great route. We got the matchup that we liked, and that was a big part of the game.”

Daniel barely overthrew Cohen on an out-and-up in the same end zone in the second quarter.

Cohen had three rushes for 14 yards and seven catches for 45. On third-and-nine with a minute left, he ran for 10 yards to seal the game. He was dragged forward by guard James Daniels, which technically is illegal, but it wasn’t called.

“To go around and get the first down, that’s a big-time play,” Nagy said.

This and that

Running back Jordan Howard had a season-low seven carries for 13 yards.

u Nagy went for two after the Bears’ first touchdown, as he did after the team’s two TDs on Sunday. Daniel threw an incompletion. The next time the Bears scored, they kicked the extra point.

u Running back Benny Cunningham (ankle) left the game in the first quarter.