Despite a valiant effort by their improving defense, the Lions failed to win a game they desperately needed for their playoff hopes Monday night, Dave Dye writes on Fox Sports Detroit.
The Chicago Bears defeated the Lions, 13-7 at Soldier Field. The Lions finally ended the shutout on a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining.
Receiver Nate Burleson suffered a broken leg in the third quarter and will miss the remainder of the season.
Even though it's still early, this one was an extremely costly defeat for the Lions, who fell to 2-4. There are now 12 teams ahead of them in the NFC playoff race, including the other three in their division.
Chicago leads the NFC North with a 5-1 record, followed by Minnesota (5-2), Green Bay (4-3) and then the last-place Lions.
"We're not frustrated," Lions coach Jim Schwartz insisted during his postgame radio interview. "We're determined and we're mad and we're going to do something about it.
