The Bears have not won in Detroit since 2012… This win is important. With that, I think we're all a littl pissed the Bears didn't step on their throats in Chicago. Parker hits those kicks and the game would have been way out of reach. Instead, the defense let up and the Lions mad a little run. When you look at the stats from the Panthers v Lions game and Bears V Lions game a week and a half ago, two things stand out: 1) Galloday continues to be a primary target for Stafford (Fuller will have his hands full again) and 2) Stafford stayed upright in the game they won and was on his ass a lot in the game they lost. We have to kick his ass up and down the field.. The Lions (3 and 6) were a 4 point underdog to the 6-3 Panthers at home last week. Interestingly, the CBS Advanced Sports model, which is 24-9 ATS all time and 10-0 on the year in top rated picks, had the Lions covering the Line. A couple key factors were the fact that the Lions have ben (surprisingly) good at home. They have beaten the Packers, Patriots an now Panthers at home this year. The Bears right now are favored by 3 on the road. When CBS runs their model this week and posts, I will update here. As far as my things to watch, not a lot has changed in 9 days so feel free to go back and look. But there were some outliers from the game that I’ll highlight here: 1) Bears interior DLine -vs- Lions interior OLine - I do think Hicks and Goldman were more intent initially at staying home and stuffing the run. Much like they did Sunday night against the Vikings, stuffing the run early forced the Lions to throw the ball. 2 picks and 6 sacks were the result. The problem I have is neither did much when we were supposed to pin our ears back an attack him, they really didn’t. And much like we’ve seen in the past, this allowed the Lions and Stat Padford to put on some late points. When it’s time to kill him, we need these guys to end the game. Neither even registered a QB hit on the day. Kenny Wiggins (G) and Graham Glasgow © are not world beaters. Hicks and Goldman are both supposed to be. We can’t go into every game thinking it has to be Mack. No, it has to be a dominant front 4 – including Mack. Edge: Bears DLine 2) Marvin Jones –vs- Prince Amukamara - One of the Highlights from the game came when Prince out-leaped Marvin Jones for a pick early in the 4th quarter at the Chicago 2 yard lin. Sadly, it was a highlight for the lions and not the Bears as it came on 4th and 15 from the Bears 47. I realize that defensive players need to take away the ball. But damn Prince, you have to be smarter. I highlight this not because I am worried about v Jones. Prince easily won the match up in week 10. (Jones had 3 catches on the day). And jones has a knee injury an may not even play. The problem is when you play the Lions in Detroit, you have to play a near perfect game to win. Edge: Prince 3) Good Trubs -vs- Bad Trubs - Sadly, I still have to leave this in here. If you look at his last 3 weeks: These are not good stats. Yes, he had a career day against the Lions at home 2 weeks ago. And yes, the Bills and Vikings both sport top 7 defenses. But this inconsistent play is not going to win games against playoff caliber teams like the Rams, Saints, etc… I would argue we won both of those games because of our defense, and despite Trubisky. Edge: Even 4) Anthony Miller –vs- Glover Quinn - The Bears went to a hurry up offense a few times last week and caught the Lions in a straight cover-1 defensive package. When this happened and we had Miller in there as the slot, Miller was able to exploit Quin and the soft zone. The TD pass was just one of several times Miller got open in space. Edge: Miller 5) Jordan Howard –vs- Damon Harrison – Harrison played a solid game against us in week 10. He led the team in tackles and was key in shutting Howard down (11 carries, 21 yards). With that, the Bears interior line played in week 10 and gave Howard some lanes to run. But he still hasn’t broken one. I think it is critical to have a balanced attack and even though we have Cohen, being abel to hit the A and B gaps with Howard to move the chains is key in our run game. I’ll be happy with a game like the Vikes. Edge: Harrison 6) Cody Parkey –vs- the Goal Posts – Doink… In what could be a very close game, we can’t leave 8 points on the right upright again. I’ll go one step further and say that this game could come own to Parker (sic) making a game winning FG. Edge: Are they letting him practice in doors this week? If not, I’ll take the Goal Post 7) Theo Riddick -vs- Roquan Smith - Riddick is averaging 7 targets per game and had his bst game of the season agaisnt us with 60 yards on 6 catches. His longest was 18 yards and they like to run screens to him when Stafford is feeling a lot of pressure or the other team is blitzing. I think the Lions will look at this as an area they can exploit again this week on turf if we're getting pressure on Stafford early. Edge: Riddick 8) Ref Factor - We get Brad Allen this week. I honestly don’t see him as a factor except for the fact that we’ve never won a game that he’s ref’d for us. In 2014, we got Brad Allen in week 1 for his first ever Head Ref assignment in the NFL. We lost to the Bills in OT. Since then, we’ve lost another 3 straight that he’s ref’d being outscored 153 to 84. Interestingly, the Lions also have never won a game he’s ref’d. And in one game against the Titan’s his crew called the Lions for 17 penalties.
Looks like we might have to win with a backup QB. 85 Bears did it. So did the Eagles last year. Going to need a huge lift from Howard and the running game. And hopefully the defense has some energy left after that effort they gave on Sunday. This is still a must win game.
I disagree. Short week, thanksgiving, 1.5 game lead in the division and we already took one.... no this game is as important as any game but nowhere near must win. That was the last two weeks. I want them to win pretty badly, especially with Chase Daniel begins center of it happens, to prove further they are becoming a real team again, and it’s the division, the shitty Lions, etc. it’s also a trap game if this team can consider any game a trap
I could be wrong about this, but isn't divisional record a tiebreaker when it comes for winning the division? I know conference record is a factor as well. If we lose this, we could be looking at a 2-4 divisional record considering home against the Packers (we've lost 8 straight at SF) and at Vikings. Either way all division games are must win in my book.
Sucks. Short week. No way 2 guys in protocol on Tuesday play. They probably don't even make the trip.
Edit to #3 above: 3) Chase Daniel -vs- Inexperience - On a positive note, there isn't much film for the Lions to look at to evaluate on Chase Daniel. On the negative note, this means he lacks real game experience. He has started just 2 games in his 8 year NFL career, both were with Kansas City. He is 1-1 with a grand total of 1 TD and 1 INT. He stared his career with New Orleans, and was Drew Brees' back-up for 3 seasons before moving on to to KC, then 1 season with Philli before heading back to NO last year. Now, one positive I think you can take from this is the reason he wasn't playing was the guys in front of him were good and very healthy. Another positive is that you generally don't stick around in this league for as long as he has with the minimal playing time that he has if you don't show things in pre-season that makes coaches want to keep you in lieu of a young kid with fresh legs and a low "non-vet" salary. I think our expectations should be very low. And heck, maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised. But don't expect a 355 yard, 3 TD game this week against the Lions. If we're going to win, it's going to be on our coaches to design a great game plan, our offensive play-makers (Cohen, Miller, Robinson, howard, Burton, Gabriel) to make plays and our defense to assassinate Stafford. We also need our ST's - especially Barfy, to not just play well, but to make win the ST battle. I will be happy if Chase plays a clean game, doesn't turn the ball over, and lets the other playmakers on this team help us win the game. I will be ecstatic if we are discussing a QB controversy n Friday. I had the Bears winning easily 27-9. I now have them losing 17-10.
Chase sounded really confident in an interview I watched. He knows the plays and seems to quietly expect to be able to handle the game. I hope so.
I wonder how the Lions will scheme the offense to neutralize the defensive line with Mack being Mack and Hicks being a beast collapsing the pocket, I suspect Stafford will roll the pocket. I would suspect if they do that make them roll left against the grain by having Mack line up on the left side in his face and force everything left. The one thing Floyd can do best is hold the edge and depending on who stays home Smith or Floyd could both have big games. Floyd if you can't get there get those arms up.
The Lions are way better at home than people want to believe. Away game on possibly the shortest rest in NFL history and I'm not feeling good about this game at all. Now its a backup QB?... I think i may place real money on the Lions covering the point spread today. Cant believe the Bears are Road favorites. I'm pretty pessimistic about this game. This is a game where Naggy can **really** prove how good he can scheme.
I honestly think the defense will always keep us in games; regardless of who is under center. You can bet Nagy won’t ask Daniel to win this game. He will ask Howard & Cohen for that. I still think this game can go either way.
