Midway through the second quarter, the Lions were flagged for illegal formation before throwing a three-yard pass on third down to move to the Bears’ 36. Bears coach Matt Nagy declined the penalty, setting up fourth down — and Matt Prater’s 54-yard field goal.
Why not accept the penalty and move them out of field goal range? Inside a windy Soldier Field, the Bears essentially dared Prater to try the field goal — or the Lions to punt.
“We discussed it and we stayed committed with it, and the kid made a -- you’ve got to give credit to him, too,” Nagy said.