The Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions are the bottom feeders in the NFC North, but there won’t be a shortage of motivation for each team to beat the other on Thanksgiving Day. Who will enjoy their turkey more on Thursday? The Bears defeated Detroit in Week 10, and will be looking to double up on their success against Detroit.
The Bears rebounded from a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 by defeating the New York Giants at home last Sunday, 19-14. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the Bears will take a victory any way they can. It was notable that Mitchell Trubisky was back under center for the team after dealing with a hip issue that got him pulled late in the Rams game. Trubisky had a typical Trubisky game against the Giants, as he had 278 passing yards and a touchdown with two interceptions on just 25-of-41 completions. The Bears will just have to live up with Trubisky at least for the duration of this season, though, they are also counting on the quarterback to replicate what he did in the first meeting with the Lions in the two teams’ rematch this coming weekend. In the Bears’ Week 10 20-13 home win over Detroit, Trubisky had three passing touchdowns without an interception on 16-of-23 completions. In any case, the Bears have their defense to rely on. Their stop unit is fourth in the league with only 17.1 points allowed per game.
The under is 5-0 in the Bears’ last five games overall.
Betting on the Detroit Lions (3-7)
Should Matt Patricia fear for his job? We can’t know for sure, but his seat is definitely not cooler after the Lions lost to the Washington Redskins on Sunday on the road, 19-16. With a lost season already, the Lions are reportedly thinking of shutting down Matthew Stafford for the rest of the season, which would mean that they will have to survive with Jeff Driskel under center going forward. Driskel didn’t exactly look like a shining beacon of hope for the Lions against the Redskins, as he went 20 for 33 for 207 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Turnovers were a big issue for the Lions in that game, as the team had a total of four errors, including a lost fumble by running back Bo Scarbrough. The former Alabama tailback will be a new face for Chicago, which didn’t deal with Scarbrough in the first meeting. Scarbrough has injected life into the Lions’ running game, rushing for 98 yards on 18 carries against Washington.
The Lions, who are averaging 23.6 points per game, have seen the total go over in four of their last four home games.
