He’s not quite a lion. But he is Bear the Cat. And on this album cover he represents how I feel about this Bears team right now.
Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?
I always like the Chicago Bears. And they can’t play as badly as last week, right?
An Original Limerick
I once bet a horse called Fox
Who slowly came out of the blocks
He’d pick up some speed
And get near the lead
But leave me with only my socks
Three Reasons The Bears Win
This section is now an exercise in futility since the Bears have shown little interest in studying their opponents and attacking their weaknesses.
- Detroit Can’t Run the Ball. Only Miami, Arizona and Cincinnati get less on the ground weekly and those are three terrible offensive teams. The Bears defense looked bad a week ago but the primary reason is they were pushed around at the point of attack by Green Bay and delivered their worst performance against the run all season. Shouldn’t be an issue this week.
- The Trubisky Development Train Keeps a’ Rollin. While the film of the 2017 season was taken over by director Lars von Trier Sunday, the future was not so bleak. Mitch Trubisky had his most prolific day throwing the football and Detroit’s secondary can be beaten through the air. (The Lions were the first secondary to make DeShone Kizer look like a professional quarterback.) Seeing Adam Shaheen and Dontrelle Inman develop a rapport with the young signal-caller, even with limited opportunities, should lead to some productive performances down the stretch and those performances should start Sunday at home.
- Bounce Back? There’s not a third reason I can find for the Bears to win this game so I’ll go with a bounce back performance from a collection of players that struggled Sunday, including Kyle Fuller, Akiem Hicks, Leonard Floyd and Pernell McPhee.
Three Reasons They Don’t
- Golden Tate & Marvin Jones. Only 6 teams allow a higher completion percentage than the Bears which means Matt Stafford is going to get the ball into the hands of his two highly-talented wide receivers. Couple that with the Bears on a streak of allowing big passer ratings to opposing quarterbacks (111.2, 110.8) and Stafford could be looking at a big afternoon.
- John Fox & Dowell Loggains. Detroit’s stats can be a bit misleading but they are one of the better run defenses in the league. Look no further than their dominance of the Steelers front two weeks ago, holding Le’Veon Bell to 76 yards on 25 carries. Clay Matthews laughed about the Bears one-dimensional approach post-game last Sunday. The Lions should shut down Jordan Howard because the Bears coaches have not come to understand the running game isn’t good enough to beat loaded fronts.
- In The Playoff Race & Not. Have always been a firm believer that after the 10th week the teams in playoff races tend to out-hustle, out-intense & out-prepare the teams that are not. If the Lions win Sunday, they’ll be 6-4 with every game left on their schedule winnable. Knowing the Soldier Field crowd is ready to turn negative as soon as the opening whistle blows, and why wouldn’t they be, expect a fast start from the Lions as they attempt an early knockout punch.
Tweet of the Week
just like the loss to SF at home two yrs ago. And like last year off the bye vs Tampa. Bears have been brutal w/ wind at their back under Fox. Im not a Fox hater, but this isnt good enough.
— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) November 13, 2017
Don’t Be Surprised If…
…the Bears get blown out. There’s no reason the roster on the visiting sideline should blow out the roster on the home sideline but the stage is set for one of those humiliating losses that ends a coach’s career. I’m not predicting the Bears lose big. But I won’t be surprised if it happens. If it does, Fox is fired Monday.
Game Prediction
I lost faith in the Bears coaches last Sunday. Fox. Loggains. Fangio. All of em. There were simply too many obvious ways to attack the Packers on both sides of the ball and the Bears did none of them. None. So I am picking the Bears to win Sunday to win by the slimmest margin possible because, let’s be honest, I think they’re going to lose.
Chicago Bears 24
Detroit Lions 23 1/2
