Jay Glazer looks ahead to coaching decisions.
The Chicago Bears did their part Sunday, beating the Detroit Lions 26-24, but were ousted from the playoff picture when the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 37-34.
Blair Walsh's 29-yard field goal as time expired gave the Vikings (10-6) the victory. They will have a first-round rematch with the Packers next weekend in Green Bay.
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Coach Lovie Smith had said the Bears (10-6) would be monitoring the Packers-Vikings game closely as they made their way back to Chicago.
"We'll just keep our fingers crossed and 'go, Pack, go,'" Smith said.
But luck ran out for Smith's team and put his coaching future in doubt. The Vikings earned the playoff spot over the Bears based on a better record within the division.
Earlier, 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.
Earl Bennett led the offense with five receptions for 109 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown on a swing pass, and Alshon Jeffery made four catches for 76 yards. Brandon Marshall had five catches for 42 yards even though he was targeted 14 times.
"It was good," Cutler said. "It was good to see. Brandon, he’s a little banged up. It’s been a long season for him, lot of catches, lot of opportunities. You could see how I was trying to get that one early, kind of get him going. Earl (Bennett) came back and had a nice run and then big conversion on the sideline. So, getting those guys going, I thought the offensive line blocked well. Matt Forte ran the ball bard. Kahlil (Bell) came in, spelled him a little bit, ran the ball well. Some good things to take away from that game. Obviously, red zone is something we need to improve on though."
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 Marshall -- gave the Bears a 17-3 lead with 3:26 to go in the first half.
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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