Lions (0-7) at Bears (4-3)
Is this the week the Detroit Lions finally get win No. 1? It’s hard to imagine winning at Chicago, where the Bears are 11-4 at home in November in the past three seasons.
The Bears are 12.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com, the biggest spread on the WagerWeb.com board this week. The over/under is 43.
Still, there’s always the chance of an upset, and Detroit has had a lead going into the third quarter in two of the past three games. And, hey, the Bears just allowed 42 points in their last game, a shootout win over the Vikings. The Bears have forced a league-high 16 turnovers, are first in third-down efficiency (30.1 percent) and sixth against the run (85.9 yards per game), but have struggled to stop the pass, ranking 29th at 243.1 ypg.
So be assured that Chicago isn’t taking this game lightly.
“Not when you’re dealing with a team that beat you twice last year,” said quarterback Kyle Orton, who has passed for 903 yards, five TDs and no interceptors in his last three games.
Still, all the numbers say it should be a big Chicago win. The Lions are 28th in scoring and last in points and yards allowed. They’re also 31st in rushing yards, first downs, rushing yards allowed and passing yards allowed. They’ve been outscored 212-114.
In Week 5, Orton passed for 334 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears crushed the Lions 34-7. Orton had career highs in passing yards, completion percentage and passer rating as the Bears outgained Detroit 425-185. The Lions, by the way, have allowed six opposing quarterbacks this season to establish a career-high passer rating.
In addition, Lions WR Roy Williams caught 7 passes for 96 yards against the Bears, more than half of the Lions’ total offense of 185 yards. But Williams, arguably the team’s most talented player, was traded to the Dallas Cowboys nine days later.
Detroit does have 11 sacks over the past three games as the defense has improved.
“I think we’re just playing better defense,” said defensive end Dewayne White, who has 5.5 sacks on the year. “We’re not getting down 21 points like we did a couple games in the beginning.
The Lions have lost their last three games by an average of 5.7 points after dropping their first four by an average of 27.0.
Chicago is looking to sweep Detroit for the third time in four years after getting swept last season.
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