DETROIT—Everything about the Detroit Lions’ first “Monday Night Football” appearance in a decade was special, including the outcome.

Calvin Johnson scored his NFL-leading ninth touchdown on a 73-yard bomb from Matthew Stafford to jumpstart a struggling offense, but Best put the game away with an 88-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

Best, who had never rushed for more than 78 yards in a single game in his career, finished with 163 yards on just 12 carries and had several crucial runs late in the second half.

Along with his 88-yard scamper, the second-longest touchdown run in Lions history, Best ran 43 yards when the Lions were backed up near their own goal line with just over four minutes to play. He converted a third-and-9 later in the drive to set up Jason Hanson’s insurance field goal.

The Lions entered the game 29th in the NFL in rushing offense _ Best was averaging just 3.2 yards per carry _ but coach Jim Schwartz insisted during the week he had seen positive signs from his struggling ground game.

Johnson finished with five catches for 130 yards. He ran by a two-deep zone defense that was designed to stop him for his own touchdown, flying past safety Chris Harris and stiff-arming Brandon Meriweather on his way to the end zone.

The Bears (2-3) took a 10-7 lead just before halftime when Jay Cutler found Kellen Davis for a 9-yard touchdown just over the outstretched arms of linebacker Bobby Carpenter, who replaced Justin Durant in the starting lineup after Durant experienced post-concussion symptoms during pregame warm-ups.

The Lions retook the lead on their first possession of the second half, when Matthew Stafford completed a 17-yard pass to Johnson on third-and-6 and four plays later found Brandon Pettigrew open in the middle of the field for his first touchdown.

Best’s 88-yard run, off the left hip of center Dominic Raiola, came on the Lions’ next play from scrimmage.

According to ESPN, Johnson is the first player with nine touchdowns in his team’s first five games since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

The Bears gave the Lions a heavy dose of running back Matt Forte early.

But the Bears squandered the game’s first scoring chance when Ndamukong Suh stuffed Forte on back-to-back short-yardage runs after a penalty-infused near seven-minute drive.

The Lions kept the drive alive with a third-down face-mask penalty on Cliff Avril (as he sacked Cutler) and a pass-interference call on Chris Houston on second-and-13, a personal foul on Willie Young on third-and-13 and another roughing-the-passer penalty on Young.

Chicago drove inside the Lions’ 26, but passed on a field-goal attempt after Forte was stopped for no gain on third-and-1. On fourth down, Suh busted through the Bears offensive line at the same time Forte took the handoff and hauled him down inches short of a first down.

The Lions dodged another break in the third quarter, when a Bears punt bounced off Brandon McDonald’s helmet four plays after Best’s 88-yard run. The Bears recovered the muffed punt, but were out of bounds.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler finished 28 of 38 passing for 249 yards, but couldn’t lead Chicago into the end zone on a desperate final drive.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Ford Field crowd of 67,861 _ most of which was still in attendance _ chanted down, “3, 2, 1,” and erupted in applause.

The crowd played a big role in the victory as Chicago was called for nine false-start penalties.

The Lions, one of only two unbeatens left in the NFL along with their NFC North rivals the Packers, are 5-0 for the first time since 1956.

• David Birkett,MCT Campus