The Cowboys opened Thursday night's game at Soldier Field with a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on offense and an interception on defense.

After that, it was all Bears.

They scored on three touchdowns and one field goal on their next four possessions after the early interception, turning a 7-0 deficit into a 24-7 lead en route to an impressive 31-24 victory.

After passing for 338 yards and three touchdowns last Thursday in a 24-20 Thanksgiving win over the Lions, Mitchell Trubisky completed 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards and three TDs while also rushing for a season-high 63 yards and one TD on 10 carries.

The Bears (7-6) have now won three straight and four of their last five games, raising their record above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2. With the victory, they closed to within a game-and-half of the Vikings (8-4) and a half-game of the Rams (7-5) for the second and final wild card spot in the NFC.

The Cowboys (6-7) have now lost three straight and seven of 10 since a 3-0 start.

Dallas opened the game with a long, methodical drive that was capped by Ezekiel Elliott's 2-yard touchdown run, taking a 7-0 lead. The Cowboys converted 4-of-4 third downs on the possession, including third-and-11 and third-and-eight situations. It was the longest opening drive in the NFL this season by plays (17) and time (8:57).

On the Bears' first possession, they marched from their own 34 to the Cowboys' 16 behind Trubisky, who completed a 19-yard pass to J.P. Holtz and scrambled twice for 5 and 13 yards. But Trubisky's ill-advised pass was intercepted by cornerback Jourdan Lewis at the 1.

Trubisky rebounded on the Bears' second possession, rifling a 5-yard touchdown pass to Allen Robinson II, tying the score 7-7 early in the second quarter. The TD was set up by a perfectly executed screen pass to Holtz, who gained 30 yards to the Dallas 9.

After the Cowboys went three-and-out, Eddy Piñeiro's 36-yard field goal gave the Bears a 10-7 lead midway through the second period. The kick came after Anthony Miller's 13-yard reception on third-and-10 from the Dallas 23 was nullified by a block-in-the-back penalty on Javon Wims.

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher followed by missing a 41-yard field-goal attempt wide right, after Elliott's 31-yard run to the Bears' 30. It was Maher's eighth miss of the season on 13 field-goal tries from 40 yards and beyond.

The Bears increased their lead to 17-7 on Trubisky's 8-yard touchdown pass to Robinson with :10 left in the half. The score came after Trubisky's 21-yard pass to Miller to the Cowboys' 8 with :22 remaining in the half.

The Bears opened the second half the same way they ended the first, as Trubisky threw his third TD pass of the game, a 14-yarder to Miller to make it 24-7 midway through the third quarter. Miller caught a short swing pass, burst through a hole, spun away from a defender and dove into the end zone.

Elliott's 2-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter closed the gap to 24-14. The score came after the Cowboys had recovered a David Montgomery fumble at their own 46.

The Bears answered immediately, as Trubisky kept the ball on a read-option play and dashed up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown run, widening the margin to 31-14 with 13:22 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to 31-21 on Prescott's 19-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by two scores, Maher made a 31-yard field goal with :08 to play to make it 31-24. But Miller recovered the subsequent onside kick to seal the victory.