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PONTIAC, Michigan (Ticker) -- The Detroit Lions should give thanks for having Gus Frerotte as their backup quarterback. Frerotte helped stake his team to a 21-point lead with a pair of touchdown passes and engineered a drive which consumed the final six minutes as the Lions held off the Chicago Bears, 21-17. It was the third straight Thanksgiving Day win for the Lions (7-4), who moved into sole possession of first place in the NFC Central, one-half game ahead of Minnesota and Tampa Bay. "Everyone in the country is watching," Frerotte said of playing on Thanksgiving. "It's something you dream about, getting to play and then to go out and grab a leg (from Fox broadcaster John Madden's turkey). That is a great feeling." With starting quarterback Charlie Batch still bothered by a thumb injury, Frerotte made his third consecutive start and completed 29-of-42 passes for 309 yards. He connected with Germane Crowell on a 45-yard scoring play in the first quarter and hit Johnnie Morton with a two-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to give the Lions a 21-0 lead. Crowell finished with seven catches for 91 yards and has 28 receptions for 508 yards in his last four games. The Bears (5-7) lost for the fourth time in their last five meetings against the Lions. "The biggest disappointment is that I really felt confident we could do it," said Bears coach Dick Jauron. "If we finish 9-7, we still have a chance and that's what we're going after." Chicago's Jim Miller completed 25-of-37 passes for 204 yards. Marcus Robinson caught four passes for 61 yards to raise his season totals to 57 receptions for 1,028 yards. "You don't want 1,000 yards for a losing team," Robinson said. "Right now, we're trying to get over the loss. We didn't take advantage of any underneath stuff. We didn't do anything in the first half and that hurt us." Miller threw a pair of touchdown passes and Chris Boniol kicked a 27-yard field goal to pull the Bears within 21-17, but Frerotte held them off by completing three key third-down passes as the Lions held the ball for the final 6:09. On a 3rd-and-11 play, Frerotte eluded a heavy pass rush, stepped up in the pocket and hit fullback Cory Schlesinger with a 12-yard pass to the Detroit 46. Facing a 3rd-and-5, Frerotte connected with running back Greg Hill on a 15-yard pass to the Chicago 36 with 2:18 left. At the two-minute warning, Frerotte drilled a 13-yard pass to Morton on a 3rd-and-10 play to seal the win. "This game keeps us right in it," said Lions coach Bobby Ross. "But we can't rest by any stretch of the imagination. We have to come out and improve on some things." While the Bears managed just one first down in their first seven possessions, the Lions built a 21-0 lead. On Detroit's opening drive, Frerotte hit Crowell with a 45-yard touchdown on a 3rd-and-4 play. Crowell ran a slant inside right cornerback Terry Cousin and raced past safety Chris Hudson at the Chicago 30 and into the end zone. The Lions scored a pair of touchdowns one minute apart late in the second quarter. Hill scored on a 29-yard run around left end with 2:45 left in the half. Following a 29-yard interception return by linebacker Scott Kowalkowski, Frerotte hit Morton in the back of the end zone with 1:45 remaining. Fittingly, Hill scored after he rushed for 61 yards on five carries and caught a seven-yard pass during the drive. After the ensuing kickoff, Lions defensive end Robert Porcher hit Miller's arm as he threw a pass and the ball floated into the hands of Kowalkowski at the Chicago 30. "I got hit on the arm and it fluttered," Miller said. "I probably should have stepped up a little more. It was a big play. It was seven points and it cost us the game." Kowalkowski returned the interception 29 yards and was tackled by Bobby Engram at the 1. "I think I was running out of gas," Kowalkowski said. "I just ran down the field on the kick cover team then I got right in there and was running again. I had no idea where anybody was. All I know is I didn't want to get caught by a lineman." Three plays later, Frerotte drilled a scoring pass to Morton, who fought off a bump by cornerback Walt Harris. After being limited to one first down, the Bears drove 53 yards in 1:15 to their first score. Miller completed 5-of-5 passes for 53 yards in the drive, including a 37-yarder to Robinson, and capped it with a three-yard touchdown to tight end Alonzo Mayes with 30 seconds left in the half. On their first drive in the second half, the Bears marched 80 yards in 13 plays and pulled within 21-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Boniol. Milburn broke off a 30-yard run to the Detroit 9, but the drive stalled. Chicago took advantage of a turnover to set up their second touchdown. Keith Burns of the Bears recovered a fumbled punt return by Iheanyi Uwaezuoke at the Detroit 49. Five plays later, Marty Booker turned a short screen pass from Miller into a 23-yard touchdown seven seconds into the fourth quarter to pull the Bears within 21-17. "Except for one screen pass, our defense played extremely well," Ross said. "I thought our coaching staff did a great job of putting a game plan together on both sides of the ball considering we only had a couple of days."
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