Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

The Associated Press

Darius Slay intercepted two Mitchell Trubisky passes Saturday, but the soon-to-be Pro Bowl cornerback said he sees good things ahead for the Chicago Bears quarterback — with one caveat.

"He’s learning," Slay said. "He’s a great one. He’s going to get better. And I can see it in him. He’s got the drive to keep working, and he believes in himself and the team do, so if the team’s behind his back, he’ll be alright. But he needs to learn his lesson, though. Ain’t too many times he’s going to throw over to 23."

Slay, who wears No. 23, made Trubisky and the Bears regret throwing his way on several occasions in the Lions' 20-10 victory, their second straight.

He had five tackles and one pass breakup to go with his two picks, and he made arguably the game's most important play when he caught an overthrown Trubisky pass along the Lions sideline on the second offensive play of the third quarter.

The Bears, after allowing the first 13 points of the game, stumbled into their first score just before halftime when Mike Nugent followed a Theo Riddick fumble with a 41-yard field goal.

Chicago got the ball to start the second half, but with the chance to make it a one-score game, Trubisky airmailed wide receiver Kendall Wright on second-and-8.

Slay, who was covering Dontrelle Inman on the play, said he recognized Wright's route from film study and slipped off his man for the pick.

When the ball hit his chest, Slay tapped both feet just in-bounds before his momentum carried him into the Lions' bench.

"I saw it, and I jumped it," Slay said. "It was either going to be an incomplete pass or a complete pass to me. So I just made a play on it.

“If he would have tried to jump and catch it, I would’ve smacked him. Right out of bounds."

Trubisky said the pass "sailed on me a little bit," while Lions coach Jim Caldwell called the interception "a difference-maker in the game just in terms of being able to slow down a team that had a little momentum going at that time."

The Lions drove 41 yards in nine plays on the ensuing possession to take a 20-3 lead on Matthew Stafford's 8-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ebron.

"He’s always had an inordinate amount of athletic ability," Caldwell said of Slay. "I mean, you could see that when he first came in the league. I know I talked about that before in his old number. He can run. He’s quick. He’s competitive. He loves to mix it up, and now just through experience and seeing a lot of things throughout the years, he’s really coming into his own and playing extremely well.”

Slay, who has five of his team-high 20 passes defensed in two games against Trubisky this year, said he's become more of a ballhawk through a combination of film study and experience.

He leads the NFL with seven interceptions, one more than he had in his first four seasons combined.

"I’m ahead of the game because I know what a lot of the guys want to do, and I know my strengths and my weaknesses," Slay said. "Of course they see my weakness, so I make it my strength and I just come out and play ball."

Trubisky, the second pick of the 2017 draft, threw for a career-high 314 yards Saturday, but also had all three of his interceptions in the second half.

Quandre Diggs intercepted a pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter, and Slay got his second pick on the game's second-to-last play.

"Last week, I think they ran the ball pretty good on Cincinnati," Slay said. "They can’t run the ball on us, so he had to throw the ball. Our goal was to make him beat us and we knew he couldn’t do that."