By ANDREW SELIGMAN
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO(AP) -- Jay Cutler insisted he wasn't trying to imitate
John Elway when he spun like the blades on a helicopter as he
flew across the goal line in the first quarter.

He popped up after that landing, and the Chicago Bears
eventually took off, too. They weren't about to let a Lions win
streak get off the ground.

Cutler threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the
Bears pulled away in the second half to beat the Lions 48-24 on
Sunday a week after Detroit snapped its 19-game slide.

His 5-yard dash early on sparked images of Elway's highlight
reel run against Green Bay in the Super Bowl, yet Cutler
dismissed the comparison to a legendary predecessor in Denver.

"If I could have just dove in there nice and quietly, I would
have," Cutler said.

Instead, he had to earn it. So did the Bears.

Matt Forte ran for 121 yards, rookie Johnny Knox returned a
kickoff 102 yards and Chicago headed into its bye with its third
straight win.

The Lions were celebrating a victory over Washington that
snapped a slide that matched the second-longest in league
history a week earlier. This time, they were holding their
breath after watching quarterback Matthew Stafford, the No. 1
draft pick, twist his right knee while being sacked in the
fourth quarter.

"It just kind of slid out," said Stafford, who will undergo
tests in Detroit.

The Lions had a third down on the Bears 6 when he was sacked by
Adewale Ogunleye, forcing Detroit to kick a field goal that cut
Chicago's lead to 34-24. Stafford had his leg wrapped and Daunte
Culpepper replaced him on Detroit's next drive, a sobering sight
for a team that has taken its share of blows over the years.

Detroit's Calvin Johnson caught eight passes for 133 yards - all
but 14 of them in the first half, when he ran by Zackary Bowman.
The Bears put Charles Tillman on him in the second half and that
helped before Johnson left late in the game with a leg injury
but the nature and severity wasn't immediately known.

With a chance to put together consecutive wins for the first
time since 2007, the Lions hung in for a half before Chicago
(3-1) pulled away.

"I guess we've got to get punched in the face a couple times to
realize we're in a fight," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said.

A punch in the face was how the second half felt to the Lions.
Coach Jim Schwartz called it "one of the worst" he's seen.

"We were poor on special teams, we were poor on offense, we were
poor on defense, we were outcoached, we were outplayed, their
trainers were probably better than ours in the second half," he
said. "So credit goes to them."

Not that the Bears didn't also absorb some pain.

Devin Hester left with a shoulder injury in the second quarter
and Knox injured his right shin in the second half, leaving them
thin at wide receiver. Before he left the game, Knox did a
spot-on impression of Hester when he ran 102 yards untouched up
the right side to open the third quarter for the second-longest
kickoff return in franchise history.

Forte broke off a 61-yard run that set up Chicago's first
touchdown and added a 37-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

Robbie Gould kicked two field goals, including a career-high
52-yarder in the third quarter, and Tommie Harris set up an
early touchdown with his first career interception and his first
since "1982," he joked.

Stafford threw for 296 yards, but Detroit still hasn't put
together consecutive wins since a 6-2 start in 2007.

Coach Rod Marinelli was let go at the end of last season after
going 0-16. He's now the Bears' defensive line coach, and with
31 new players, he could be excused if he didn't recognize the
team on the other side of the field.

What happened early had a familiar feel, though.

The Bears got off to another slow start, just as they did the
first three games.

Cutler's wild flight to the end zone after a 61-yard dash by
Forte was one bright - and a little scary - spot.

Hester was apparently injured after catching a short pass on
second down with just under 12 minutes left. He tried to juke
the Lions' Louis Delmas and William James, but instead took a
hard hit. He quickly got up showing no obvious signs of an
injury, and it wasn't clear which shoulder he hurt.

"We know how to finish a game. We need to start stronger and
faster and all of that," coach Lovie Smith said. "But I'm proud
of how the guys finished the game."

NOTES: Knox's kickoff return was second to Gale Sayers'
103-yarder at Pittsburgh on Sept. 17, 1967. ... Bears RB and
special teams player Adrian Peterson left in the first quarter
with a right knee injury. ... The Bears were without LBs Hunter
Hillenmeyer (rib) and Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee). ... The Lions held
out defensive tackle Sammie Hill because of an ankle injury and
defensive end Dewayne White with a hamstring injury.