Darrell Bevell's debut as Lions interim coach is a stunning success against Bears

CHICAGO – Darrell Bevell had a hard time processing everything from his first game as an NFL coach.

He watched as the Detroit Lions wiped out a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, recovered a strip-sack in the closing minutes to set up the go-ahead touchdown, and squeezed out a 34-30 victory over the Chicago Bears.

"My emotions right now, I can't even think straight," Bevell said. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this whole thing on what just happened."

So were the Bears.

"I was just in shock because I felt like we were going to win that one," Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said.

Adrian Peterson scored from the 5 after Romeo Okwara strip-sacked Trubisky with about two minutes left, capping the comeback. Matthew Stafford threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns, and the Lions (5-7) came away with a wild victory in their first game since firing General Manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia.

"It was a crazy, amazing week," said Bevell, the former Vikings offensive coordinator who had been serving in that role under Patricia until last weekend. "I just couldn't be happier with how they did today."

But the Lions turned things around down the stretch, sending the Bears (5-7) to their sixth loss in a row.

Detroit cut it to 30-27 with 2:18 left on Stafford's 25-yard pass to Marvin Jones Jr. Then, the Bears had a third down at their 17 when Okwara stripped Trubisky. John Penisini recovered and the Lions took over at the Chicago 7.

Peterson ran it in two plays later for his second score of the game. Chicago drove to the Lions 20 but was stopped on fourth-and-1 in the closing seconds, and Stafford gave Bevell the game ball afterward.

"Just excited to get a win and thought it was fitting; he needed to get that game ball," Stafford said after the 31st fourth-quarter comeback of his career. "It's his first game as a head coach, and to get a win is huge."

The Bears are on their worst skid since 2002, fueling more speculation about coach Matt Nagy's future.