Lions 34, Bears 17: Matthew Stafford threw for 390 yards and found Calvin Johnson for a pair of touchdowns as Detroit knocked off visiting Chicago to keep pace in the NFC North.

Stafford, who completed a career-low 39 percent of his passes in a loss at New England last week, went 34-of-45 as the Lions (8-4) drew within a half-game of the Green Bay Packers for first place in the division. Johnson finished with 11 catches for 146 yards and Joique Bell ran for a pair of scores for Detroit, which ended a two-game slide.

Jay Cutler went 31-of-48 for 280 yards and threw a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes to Alshon Jeffery for the Bears (5-7). Jeffery had nine catches for 71 yards but Matt Forte was limited to six yards on five carries as Chicago managed only 13 yards rushing, tying their lowest mark since the NFL merger in 1970.

Cutler and Jeffery did their damage in the first quarter, connecting on TD strikes of 10 and 6 yards around a 46-yard field goal to give the Bears a 14-3 lead. The Lions had gone 25 straight drives without a touchdown before Stafford hit Johnson with a 25-yard scoring pass two minutes into the second quarter to cut it to 14-10.

Bell broke in for a 1-yard TD with 3:18 left in the first half to put Detroit on to and Stafford led a six-play drive in front of the half to give the Lions a 24-14 cushion on Johnson’s 6-yard scoring pass. The Bears managed a 35-yard field goal by Robbie Gould on the opening drive of the third but Bell broke in for another 1-yard score three seconds into the fourth quarter as Detroit put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bears DE Cornelius Washington left in the first half with a chest injury and S Chris Conte was evaluated for a concussion. … Forte (650) passed Walter Payton (607, 1983) for Chicago’s single-season record for receiving yards by a running back. … Johnson (10,052) became the 43rd player in NFL history to go over 10,000 receiving yards and the fastest player to reach the milestone with his second TD catch. It was also his 42nd career 100-yard game, tying Hall of Famer Cris Carter for 15th all-time.