Lions top Bears 37-34 in OT for first win
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DETROIT (AP) -- Matthew Stafford bounced back from getting benched for the first time and led the Detroit Lions to a desperately needed victory.
Stafford threw four touchdown passes and found Calvin Johnson for a 57-yard play to set up Matt Prater's 27-yard field goal with 2:29 left in overtime, helping Detroit beat the Chicago Bears 37-34 on Sunday for its first win of the season.
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The Lions (1-5) leaned on Stafford's arm and Johnson's ability to make big plays.
Stafford was 27 of 42 for season-high 405 yards with four scores to four receivers and an interception. Johnson had six receptions for a season-high 166 yards and scored for the first time this year. It was his 45th career game with at least 100 yards receiving, breaking a fourth-place tie with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
The Bears (2-4) had chances for a third straight comeback win.
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Both teams had the ball twice in overtime before the Lions scored on their third possession in the extra period.
Chicago's Robbie Gould kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired in regulation. The tying score was set up by Darius Slay getting called for interference after Jay Cutler's 25- and 24-yard passes to Alshon Jeffery.
Stafford threw a go-ahead, 6-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Johnson in the end zone with 21 seconds left in the fourth following consecutive penalties.
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Pernell McPhee was called for roughing the passer, hitting Stafford low when he threw an incomplete pass on third-and-12 from the Bears 12. Stafford had backed his team up from the Chicago 2 when he was called for intentional grounding.
Lions coach Jim Caldwell chose to have Prater kick a 32-yard field goal with 2:46 left in regulation instead of going for it on fourth-and-4 from the Bears 13. Caldwell put faith in his defense and it delivered, holding Chicago to a three-and-out possession and getting the ball back at the Detroit 34 with 2:23 and no timeouts left.
Stafford helped Detroit drive for a go-ahead score, but its defense could not close it out in regulation.
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The Lions turned the ball over for a second time in the second half on punt returns and Cutler took advantage with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeffery. Stafford made an ill-advised and errant pass from his 18 that was picked off by linebacker Jonathan Anderson to set up Matt Forte's go-ahead, 2-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter. Forte then caught a 2-point conversion to put Chicago up 31-24.
Cutler finished 26 of 41 for a season-high 353 yards with a TD and an interception. He had three of his top targets -- Jeffery, Eddie Royal and Martellus Bennett -- in the lineup after each of them was listed as questionable because of injuries. Jeffery, who had been out since Week 1 with a hamstring injury, caught eight passes for 147 yards and a score.