The march to the playoffs begins here for the 6-2 Lions as they visit the 5-3 Chicago Bears. The Lions are coming off their bye while the Bears come off their impressive win over the Eagles in MNF. Since these teams met on that memorable Week 5 MNF game the Bears have gone 3-0 while the Lions have gone 1-2 and the general media view seems to be that this return fixture will see a different result to the one at Ford Field. The Bears appear to have picked up their game and must be relishing the prospect of having a home field that will not drown out the play calling of Jay Cutler when he takes his position behind center. This game offers the Lions the chance to send out quite a statement to not only their divisional rivals but the wider NFL as well. It's an intriguing matchup of that there is no doubt.
It was nice to see the reaction of team mates, via various tweets, to the return of Kevin Smith. He may not be an elite back at this level, in fact he may never be more than an average back in the big leagues but he is a willing workhorse and that is something the Lions need. The Morris/Williams combo showed that they are more effective at gaining yards when the O-Line is barely creating gaps than Jahvid Best is but Smith may well offer more than both and could find himself the feature back once again, possibly even by the end of this game. Stafford brought his secondary receivers into the game much more in the Lions last outing against the Broncos and will need to follow that performance with something similar in this game. Johnson will be keen to make up for last season's Week 1 game winning TD catch being negated by the officials. The Bears will be looking to do a better job of putting pressure on Stafford than they managed last time out while the Lions O-Line will be looking to repeat what was probably their most impressive outing against Peppers & co. The yards are still going to predominantly come through the air but in the cold windy confines of Soldier Field the performance of the running backs may be critical.
Despite being harried the entire game Jay Cutler was credited with having one of his better career games last time these teams met and that performance has been the springboard for the impressive3-game win streak the Bears are now on. The Lions D-Line will be continue their domination of the Bears O-Line and should welcome the addition of this years first round draft choice Nick Fairley to the ranks once again. The Lions defense will need to continue the improvement they showed in shutting down the Broncos rush attack last time out as the Bears Matt Forte is about as good as their is out there at the moment. Containing Forte and getting to Cutler will be the keys for the defense as the Bears will look to grind them down with Forte and wear them out with the pass. The success of the Lions D-Line is probably down to the lines depth enabling it to stay fresh and if they can keep running out 3 and outs like they did against the Broncos then they will remain fresh throughout the entire game.
With Devin Hester being listed as questionable the Lions Special Teams unit may just catch a break. More than any other unit the Special Teams group need to show improvement after the bye week break. New Punter Ryan Donahue looks unlikely to recover in time for the game but Jason Hanson is expected to make it so both aspects of our kicking game may come under close scrutiny. If Hester fails to make it then the Lions coverage unit needs to ensure that it steps up and ensures that his replacement doesn't go on to have an impressive day. Stefan Logan has yet to do much with the few chances he has had to return the ball on kickoffs and punts and this game would be the ideal one to change that depressing sequence.
The Bears are sounding confident about their chances in this and that confidence reflects the consensus of the media opinion. Personally I think too much credit is being given to the Bears improved showings since the MNF game and too much criticism is being attached to the Lions two losses. Whilst I don't see a victory quite as dominating as the one at Ford Field I do believe the Lions will get their second half to the season off with a win. I think that Cutler doesn't have the impressive performance he did in Week 5 and the Lions to both sack him and intercept him. I also think the Lions running game has success against this opponent only this time with more consistent gains as opposed to the occasional large bursts of last time.
Prediction: LIONS 27 Bears 20
No comments:
Post a Comment