CHICAGO -- Brian Hoyer led the Chicago Bears to their first win and maybe gave coach John Fox something to think about in the process.
Hoyer threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns filling in for Jay Cutler, and the Chicago Bears earned their first win of the season with a 17-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Bears (1-3) got a win after starting 0-3 for the second time in as many seasons under Fox. They also stopped a six-game home losing streak as well as a six-game slide against Detroit (1-3), though things got tight near the end.
Chicago was leading 17-6 when Andre Roberts returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Golden Tate then caught a 2-point conversion pass from Matthew Stafford to cut it to 17-14 with 1:52 left, but the Bears recovered the onside kick.
Hoyer was on target in his second straight start with Cutler nursing a sprained right thumb. He completed 28 of 36 passes against a defense missing the injured Ezekiel Ansah and DeAndre Levy.
Fox has been noncommittal when asked if Cutler will start when he is ready to return, and he wasn't about to tip his hand after this one. Chicago visits Indianapolis next week.
"I'd like to enjoy this for at least a few hours," Fox said.
Hoyer shrugged off a similar question, saying, "It's my role to do whatever's asked of me. Today, I'm going to enjoy the victory. Whatever they say to me tomorrow, then that's what I'll prepare to do. I think that's being a professional about it."
Eddie Royal caught seven passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Jordan Howard ran for a career-high 111 yards for Chicago.
Zach Miller caught a touchdown, and the Bears gained 408 yards in just their second home win in 10 games under Fox.
The Lions dropped their third straight, with Stafford struggling to find open receivers and a short-handed run game once again unable to get going.
Stafford was 23 of 36 for 213 yards and was intercepted twice deep in Bears territory. He got picked off by Jacoby Glenn on a miscommunication with Tate near the end of the first half.
And the Lions had the ball on the Chicago 23 when Deiondre Hall picked off a pass intended for Anquan Boldin with about four minutes remaining in the game.
Marvin Jones Jr. had 74 yards receiving after setting a career high with 205 yards against Green Bay the previous week.
"We were just not sharp at all," coach Jim Caldwell said. "There was no rhythm to it. That's my fault."
Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press
