Bears–Lions rivalry

The Bears–Lions rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions. The franchises first met in 1930 when the Lions were known as the Portsmouth Spartans and based in Portsmouth, Ohio. They moved to Detroit for the 1934 season. The Bears and Lions have been division rivals since 1933 and have usually met twice a season since the Lions franchise began. The two teams play in the two largest metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Chicago and Detroit's home stadiums, Soldier Field and Ford Field, are 280 miles apart and both are easily accessible from I-94. This rivalry is the longest-running annual series in the NFL as both teams have met at least once a season since 1930.

The Bears dominated the rivalry in the early days from the 1930s to the 1950s, when they were a perennial powerhouse team under head coach George "Papa Bear" Halas. Through the 1965 season, the final season before the first Super Bowl was played, Chicago was 47–22–4 against Detroit. However, the series has been subsequently more even, with Chicago going 57–56–1 since that time. This is despite the fact that the Bears have been far more successful than the Lions since that season, reaching the NFC Divisional Playoffs twelve times (winning five of those playoff games, two NFC titles, and a Super Bowl) while the Lions have only reached the Divisional Playoffs three times, winning just one of those games, and have not won an NFC title. The Bears won the only playoff meeting between the two teams, the 1932 NFL Championship Game, 9–0.

Notable rivalry moments

 * December 18,, 1932 NFL Playoff Game
 * The 1932 regular season ended with the Spartans (6–1–4) and Bears (6–1–6) tied atop the NFL standings (at the time, ties were not considered in a team's win percentage). There were no playoffs at the time and the champion was simply the team with the better win percentage with head-to-head results serving as the only tiebreaker. As both teams had the same record and they tied both of their meetings during the season, the NFL staged its first ever playoff game. The teams were set to meet at Wrigley Field, but the game was instead moved to the indoor Chicago Stadium due to severe weather, and modified rules were used because the stadium was smaller than regulation size. The Bears won the game, 9–0, to claim the NFL title. The championship game proved to be popular, so the league split into two divisions beginning in and staged a championship game between the two division winners at the end of the season. To date, this is the two teams' only playoff meeting (although the game officially counted in the regular season standings).


 * November 29,
 * The Lions, having just moved to Detroit, decided to schedule an annual game on Thanksgiving in an attempt to draw fans. This idea proved to work as the game was played in front of a sellout crowd. The Bears entered the game with a perfect 11–0 record, while the Lions were 10–1. The Lions built a 16–7 lead at halftime, but the Bears would score 12 unanswered points in the second half to come away with the 19–16 to clinch the NFL Western Division title. The Bears and Lions have met a total of 18 times on Thanksgiving, all in Detroit, with the Bears holding a 10–8 record in the Thanksgiving meetings.


 * October 24,
 * Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes collapsed on the field and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He remains the only player in NFL history to have died on the field.


 * November 27,
 * The Bears come back from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Bears running back Dave Williams returned the opening kickoff of overtime 95 yards for a touchdown as the Bears left Detroit with a stunning 23–17 win. At the time, it was the shortest overtime in NFL history.


 * November 22,
 * The Bears beat the Lions 30-10 in the teams only meeting that year, as the game in Detroit was cancelled during the NFL players strike. To date, this is the only season in which the Lions and Bears have not met twice in a season. Highlights of this game were later shown during the Max Headroom signal hijacking that took place across the city of Chicago that night.


 * December 24,
 * The Lions entered Week 17 needing one final win over a last-place Bears team to clinch a playoff spot. Despite building a 10–0 lead in the first quarter, the Lions found themselves trailing 20–17 in the fourth. The Lions tied the game at 20 with under two minutes to go, but the Bears' rookie kicker Paul Edinger secured the win for Chicago with a 54-yard field goal with two seconds left, all but eliminating the Lions from playoff contention. This proved to be a franchise-altering moment for Detroit, who hired Matt Millen in the offseason to rebuild the team.


 * September 30,
 * It was a defensive slugfest for the first three quarters, with the score 13-3 in favor of Chicago. However, starting with a Shaun McDonald touchdown pass for Detroit in the early moments of the fourth quarter, the Lions' offense caught fire, scoring an additional 27 points in the fourth quarter, while still allowing two Bears touchdowns, to stun the Bears 37-27. The fourth quarter saw an NFL-record 48-points scored.


 * September 12,
 * Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson appeared to catch a touchdown pass late in the game that would have given the Lions the lead, but it was controversially ruled to not be a catch after Johnson was ruled to not have completed the process of catching the ball. Johnson had the ball in both hands, got both feet down, rolled over on his backside and put his hand with the ball in it on the ground. The call was reviewed on the instant replay review, but the "no catch" ruling was upheld. The rule for what defines a catch was updated in 2015, with this play (along with other similar plays) being a large reason for the change.


 * September 13,
 * In both teams' first game of the season, the Lions led the Bears 23–6 in the fourth quarter. The Bears rallied back scoring 21 unanswered points and took a 27–23 lead with 1:54 left in the game. The Lions, however, still had a chance to win. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford drove his team from their own 25 yard line all the way to the Bears' 16 yard line with 11 seconds left. The Lions attempted to go to the endzone but Stafford's pass was dropped in the endzone by Lions rookie running back D'Andre Swift which would've won the game for the Lions. On the next and last play of the game, Stafford's pass to the endzone was broken up by Bears rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson to seal the Bears' 27–23 come-from-behind victory.


 * November 19,
 * The Bears were beating the Lions 26–13 with around 3 minutes left in the game when the Lions scored on a touchdown catch from Jameson Williams to cut the lead to 26–21. The Bears went three-and-out on their next possession that lasted only 15 seconds before they punted it back to the Lions. The Lions drove down the field from their own 27 yard line and would score a go-ahead touchdown with only 29 seconds left in the game on a 1-yard run by former Bears running back David Montgomery to take a one point lead. The Lions went for two points and succeeded to take a three point lead with 29 seconds left. The Bears started on their own 25 yard line with 29 seconds left and was hoping to get to field goal range and potentially tie the game. But on the first snap, Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson sacked Bears quarterback Justin Fields that caused Fields to fumble before the ball was kicked out of the endzone by Bears tackle Darnell Wright for a safety and preserve the Lions comeback win 31–26.