Lions Hold Off Bears for Narrow Victory

Football in the black-and-blue division is seldom pretty, especially when Detroit and Chicago hook up. That’s especially true this season, when few NFC teams stand out.

Gus Frerotte threw two touchdown passes as Detroit jumped to a big lead, then held on for a 21-17 Thanksgiving Day win over the Chicago Bears, giving the Lions a half-game lead in the slug-it-out NFC Central--at least temporarily.

“There haven’t been any blowouts in the NFC this season, except maybe Washington’s big [48-22] win over Chicago,” Frerotte said. “This is a year when every team is in it, and the games are going to be close.”

Frerotte, making his third straight start while Charlie Batch’s strained right thumb heals, completed 29 of 42 passes for 309 yards without an interception.

He hooked up with Germane Crowell for a 45-yard touchdown and connected with Johnnie Morton on a two-yard scoring pass.

Greg Hill rushed for 68 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown for Detroit (7-4), which built a 21-0 lead.

“I didn’t play my best game today, but we never gave up and we were able to fight through it,” Frerotte said. “That’s how we win games--we grit them out.”

Jim Miller, a career third-stringer who had passed for 779 yards and four touchdowns in the Bears’ previous two games, rallied Chicago (5-7) with help from some Detroit mistakes. He was 25 of 37 for 204 yards with one interception and had a three-yard touchdown pass to Alonzo Mayes and a 23-yarder to Marty Booker.

“I really felt we’d win in the second half,” Bear Coach Dick Jauron said. “We just made too many errors.”

Miller completed five straight passes in a five-play, 53-yard scoring drive, narrowing the gap to 21-7 with the touchdown toss to Mayes. Marcus Robinson had a 37-yard catch in the drive, which took only 1:15 to complete.

Chris Boniol’s 26-yard field goal made the score 21-10 with 7:29 left in the third quarter.

Detroit had the Bears backed up to their own three in the third quarter, but when Iheanyi Uwaezuoke fumbled a punt at midfield, Keith Burns recovered at the Detroit 49 and the Bears had new life.

Five plays later, on the first snap of the fourth quarter, Miller hooked up with Booker and the score was 21-17.

But the Lions’ patchwork defense--playing without injured cornerback Bryant Westbrook and suspended safety Mark Carrier--shut the Bears down the rest of the way.