The Bears, on a five-game losing streak, hit the road to play the hottest team in football.
I hope your Thanksgiving Day is a good and exciting gathering with lots of fun and food.
Don’t let the Chicago Bears playing football ruin it for you.
Just like talking politics or your uncle’s drinking habit or your cousin’s way-stronger-than-they-said edible, the Bears could easily ruin your holiday.
Chicago has lost five in a row, and Detroit has won nine in a row.
The Lions have one of the best running back duos, while the Bears have struggled against the run all year.
Yes, this appears to be a big mismatch.
Let’s just hope it’s a respectable showing.
SB Nation site: Pride of Detroit
Record: 10-1, first in the NFC North
Last week: 24-6 win over the Indianapolis Colts
Game day, time, TV: Thursday, 11:30 a.m. CT, CBS
Spread: The Bears are 10.5-point underdogs to the Lions.
Bears all-time record against: 105-78-5
Historical meetings
Thanksgiving Day, 1935. The first time these two franchises met on the holiday.
Detroit came in 5-3-2 and Chicago came in at 5-3-1.
Dutch Clark opened the scoring by catching a TD pass from Bill Shepherd. In the second quarter Bill Hewitt tackled Lions FB Buddy Parker in the endzone for a safety.
Unfortunately, the Bears couldn’t get anything else going. Clark added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Lions won 14-2.
Last meeting
Week 14 last season. The Bears hosted Detroit just weeks after nearly beating them.
The Bears took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a DJ Moore 16-yard rush on the opening drive of the game and later adding a field goal.
But in the second quarter, the Lions came back, scoring twice but missing an extra point.
In the second half, the Bears shut out the Lions, including three three-and-outs by the Lions offense in the third quarter.
Justin Fields hit DJ Moore for a 38-yard touchdown and Field scrambled for another TD. The extra point was blocked on the first one and the 2-point failed on the second.
The Bears went on to win 28-13.
Injury report
The Lions listed five players on their Tuesday injury report.
Limited
- RB David Montgomery (shoulder
- WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (knee)
Did not participate
- CB Carlton Davis (knee/thumb)
- T Taylor Decker (knee)
- WR Kalif Raymond (foot)
Offense
The Lions offense enters week 13 ranked first in points and second in yards.
Detroit’s passing offense ranks sixth and their rushing offense ranks fourth.
Jared Goff (72.9 pct cmp/2,761 yds/20 TD/9 INT) is playing the best football of his career and has been among the most accurate in the league.
His supporting cast is outstanding as well. Amon-Ra St. Brown (71 rec/747 yds./9 TD) is playing well, while Jameson Williams (29/602/4) is the breakout player here, when he’s not getting suspended. Second-year TE Sam LaPorta (28/385/3) is playing well, too. Kalif Raymond (16/204/2) and Tim Patrick (19/258/0) are the other WRs making plays.
But the main attractions here are running backs Jahmyr Gibbs (154/886/10) and David Montgomery (145 att./632 yds/11 TD). The Sonic and Knuckles duo are probably the best 1-2 punch in the league. Gibbs (26 rec./265/1) and Montgomery (24/241/0) also get involved in the passing game and by their numbers are the fourth and fifth-leading receivers.
Defense
The Lions’ defense comes in ranked second in points allowed and 12th in yards allowed.
Their passing defense ranks 25th and their rushing offense ranks fifth.
Some of the big names you know (Alex Anzalone and Aidan Hutchinson) are on injured reserve, but the unit is playing at a high level.
LB Jack Campbell (87 tkl/5 TFL/1 FF/2 QB hits/1.5 sk) and CB Brian Branch (61 tkl/3 TFL/3 QB hits/13 PD/4 INT) are the leading tacklers. Branch is second on the team in interceptions behind Kerby Joseph (52 tkls/7 INT/9 PD/1 TFL). Carlton Davis (2 INT/10 PD/2 FR/2 TFL/51 tkl) is good, too.
Their pass rush has suffered without Hutchinson, but still have nine players with at least one sack. Trade deadline acquisition Za’Darius Smith (0.5 sk/4 QB hits) is leaning his way in. But the leaders here are Alim McNeill (3.5 sk/7 QB hits/6 TFL), Levi Onwuzurike (1.5 sk/10 QB hits/1 FF) and D.J. Reader (1 sk/5 QB hits/14 tkls).
Key matchups
This game is a total mismatch in a lot of ways for the Bears. The Lions’ running game is going to be a problem against a leaky Bears DL that has struggled against the run all year.
After seeing what Jordan Addison did against the secondary, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams have to be excited to see what they can do. Montez Sweat is going to have to bring it against one of the best OLs in the league.
For the offense, Caleb Williams is going to have to take care of the ball. The Lions have the third-most interceptions in the league. Despite allowing the 24th-most pass yards, their only allowing opponents a 72.7 QB rating, lowest in the league.
Key stats
- Bears are 11-8 against the Lions on Thanksgiving day. Overall they are 20-15-2 on turkey day. They’ve won their last three games against the Lions on the holiday.
- The Lions have lost seven straight Thanksgiving Day games.
- Detroit’s 14 interceptions trail only the Vikings and Texans.
- The Lions have allowed only seven passing touchdowns all season, the fewest in the league.
- Detroit hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 10 quarters.
- The Lions can match their longest-ever win streak on Thursday. It would be their 10th win in a row. The last time they won 10 in a row was in 1934.
- Caleb Williams has been sacked six times in two games with Thomas Brown as his OC. In his final two games with Shane Waldron calling the plays, he was sacked 15 times.
- Matt Eberflus is 2-9 on challenges.
- Eberflus is 2-10 as head coach in November.
Can the Bears pull off a huge Thanksgiving holiday upset? What do they need to do to win against the juggernaut Lions?