Jay Glazer looks ahead to coaching decisions.
The Chicago Bears did their part Sunday, beating the Detroit Lions 26-24. Now they need help from the Green Bay Packers, who must beat the Minnesota Vikings to send the Bears into the playoffs.
Coach Lovie Smith said the team would be monitoring the Packers-Vikings game closely as they made their way back to Chicago.
Forte scores
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2nd quarter: Vikings 10, Packers 0
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Ford Field, 2000 Brush Street #200, Detroit, MI 48226, USA
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Soldier FIELD, 1410 Museum Campus Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
"We'll just keep our fingers crossed and 'go, Pack, go," Smith said.
Jay Cutler hit 18 of 31 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown, Matt Forte rushed for 103 yards on 24 carries and the Bears' defense and special teams forced four turnovers to help tame the Lions.
"We're getting turnovers again; we have to limit our turnovers and we did that today," Cutler said.
Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who came in needing 108 yards to reach 2,000 on the season, was held to 72 on five catches.
"It's hard to shut down Calvin Johnson completely," Smith said. "We wanted to get a lot of people on him, roll the coverage up, double-team him as often as we could. So we did a pretty good job of not letting him get the big one."
The victory didn't come easily. The Lions cut the Bears' lead to 26-24 on a 9-yard Matthew Stafford pass to Brian Robiskie with 6:55 to play in the game. The nine-play, 80-yard drive was kept alive by an unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker Lance Briggs for a hit on a sliding Stafford.
Olindo Mare's fourth field goal -- this one from 20 yards out -- boosted the Bears' lead to 26-17 with 10:47 left. It capped an 11-play, 59-yard drive that took 4:25 off the clock.
Mare's 28-yard field goal increased the Bears' lead to 23-17 with 1:50 left in the third quarter. The score was set up when safety Major Wright came up with the Lions' fourth turnover of the day, recovering a Mikel Leshoure fumble at the Detroit 13.
Detroit fought back and trimmed the Bears' once-commanding lead to 20-17 with a 10-yard TD pass from Matthew Stafford to Will Heller at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter.
The Lions cut the Bears' lead to 20-10 just before halftime, as Stafford hit Kris Durham on a 25-yard TD pass with 12 seconds to play before intermission.
Mare's 40-yard field goal extended the Bears' lead to 20-3 with 1:49 to play.
Tim Jennings made his league-high ninth interception with 2:38 left in the half to put the Bears' offense back in business inside Lions territory.
Forte's 1-yard touchdown run -- after a pass-interference call against Detroit drawn by Brandon Marshall -- gave the Bears a 17-3 lead with 3:26 to go in the first half.
The Bears' defense delivered again to set up the score. Israel Idonije knocked the ball from quarterback Matthew Stafford's hand and Julius Peppers recovered on the Lions' 10-yard line.
Mare's 33-yard field goal gave the Bears a 10-3 lead with 2:59 left in the first quarter. Joe Anderson forced a fumble on the kickoff after the Bears' first score and Eric Weems recovered, setting up Mare's kick.
Mare blew a chance to extend the lead, missing a 43-yard attempt wide right with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
The Bears grabbed a 7-3 lead when Earl Bennett caught a screen pass from Cutler and took it 60 yards for a touchdown with 4:33 left in the first quarter.
Bears stay alive by beating Lions, need help from Packers
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Bears stay alive by beating Lions, need help from Packers
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Bears stay alive by beating Lions, need help from Packers
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