This weekend, the Lions will travel to the Windy City to play the 4–8 Bears in a rematch of their game 3 weeks ago. The Lions are fresh off a fantastic victory in New Orleans, where Jared Goff and the offense looked as good as they have for the most of the season. Despite their defense’s ongoing struggles, forcing two turnovers was a major factor in Detroit’s victory. After their late-season bye week, the Bears had an additional week to prepare for Detroit and regain their health. Chicago has a great opportunity to upset Detroit in this game, which should be extremely tight. The Bears will be trying to play better and finish the job they couldn’t last time, as they came dangerously close to defeating Detroit three weeks ago.
The Bears have an additional week to get fit and get ready for the Lions because they just had a bye week. Lately, the Bears have improved, particularly on defense. The Bears defense has recorded seven picks in the last two games in addition to playing excellent run defense. Chicago’s defensive performance has been greatly aided by Jaylon Johnson, who has established himself as one of the best corners in the league. The addition of Montez Sweat to the defense is another significant factor in their recent success. Not only has Sweat helped halt the run, but it has also been fantastic coming off the edge. Even though their defense has been excellent, Justin Fields and the offense are still having trouble. In the last two games, Chicago’s defense has forced seven interceptions, yet the Bears have only scored six points in total off those turnovers. Fields’ play has been inconsistent, hitting some huge passes but missing a few simple ones. He has made DJ Moore his go-to target on both short and long passes. Kmet is another target Fields loves, establishing himself as one of the league’s brightest young tight ends. Despite being average on paper, the offensive line supports Fields and the run game well. Fields is given plenty of time to throw and holes are opened up consistently for the Bears running backs. The Bears can really surprise Detroit, but they will need to prevail at the line of scrimmage once again. Chicago’s defense has proven to be capable, but Detroit’s offense is very good and will be difficult to stop.
The Lions just defeated the New Orleans Saints with a strong performance from both Jared Goff and their offense. Goff led Detroit’s offense to 33 points with two touchdowns and zero turnovers. Sam LaPorta had nine receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown in an incredible performance. Despite still being a rookie, LaPorta is solidifying his place among the league’s top 5 tight ends. After a terrible showing against Green Bay, the offensive line had a great game. Goff had plenty of time to complete passes, and Gibbs and Montgomery, who combined for 116 yards, found openings in the rushing game. The defense appeared to be shaky in the red zone, yet again. The Lions are giving up a ton of yards and points every week in large part due to the secondary, which is still highly vulnerable. Early on, Brian Branch got a pick that was crucial to Detroit’s victory. The Lions maintained their dominance in the run game even though they gave up a bunch of air yards. Kamara was only averaging 3.6 yards per rush despite the Lions being without an important player. Since Alex Anzalone was out of the lineup for this game, rookie Jack Campbell filled in well. Campbell had nine tackles including 2 tackles for loss. I think this game will be extremely close overall. Detroit is not helped by the weather prediction, and Chicago is seeking retribution for what happened during the last game. Despite my prediction that Chicago will win, I believe this game will be extremely tight and might go any way.
My Prediction: Bears 24 Lions 20
