Lions Do the Roaring; Ditka Is Silent : Detroit: Bears’ coach is subdued after Barry Sanders leads 27-17 victory over Chicago.

Mike Ditka’s post-mortem on his Chicago Bears was quick and almost eerily subdued.

“I take the blame for it. It was my fault, and that’s it,” Ditka said in a one-minute meeting with reporters after the Bears lost, 27-17, to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, formally ending Chicago’s bid for a sixth consecutive NFC Central Division title.

It appeared Ditka had resigned himself to the decline of the Bears, who have lost four games in a row for the first time since 1981.

There was no shouting about his team’s shortcomings, none of the ranting and raving that had become a Ditka trademark after some other losses this year.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Ditka said. “We’re going to keep trying, hustle, work, practice and try to work this thing out. It’s definitely my fault. I think we can put a period after that and quote marks and make a lot of you people happy.”

The Bears were mainly done in by Barry Sanders, who ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns, pushing the Lions’ winning streak to three. That matches their longest since they started 1978 with four in a row.

Detroit (5-9) had lost its previous 10 games against the Bears (6-8).

Sanders also won a personal rushing duel against Chicago’s Neal Anderson, who entered the game as the conference’s second-leading rusher, 15 yards behind Sanders.

Anderson finished with 42 yards in 12 carries, including a one-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Sanders’ 26 rushes included an 18-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a three-yarder that made it 24-10 in the third. He also returned a kickoff 43 yards in the second quarter to set up the first of two Eddie Murray field goals.

“The main statistic was the one on the scoreboard,” Sanders said. “We’ve started to eliminate some of the mistakes and turnovers. When we play well, we can beat most teams in the league.”

The Lions, stopped without a first down on their first three possessions, went 74 yards for a touchdown on their fourth, scoring on quarterback Bob Gagliano’s 14-yard keeper around the left side.