Bear Digest

Best matchups for Chicago Bears to exploit Sunday against the Lions

Barring some unclear injury situations, there are several matchups where the Bears look to have good advantages lining up against defending NFC North champion Detroit.
Gene Chamberlain|
Jack Campbell takes out Caleb Williams with a hit near the sidelines last year. Campbell and Lions linbackers have a matchup issue Sunday with two Bears tight ends capable of doing damage.
Jack Campbell takes out Caleb Williams with a hit near the sidelines last year. Campbell and Lions linbackers have a matchup issue Sunday with two Bears tight ends capable of doing damage. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

For 6 1/2-point favorites in their first home game of the season and coming off a division title, the Detroit Lions sure have a lot of obvious matchup problems trying to stop the Chicago Bears on both sides of the football.

These problems came to light in some situations last week against Green Bay. Dennis Allen's pressure defense is unlikely to make it easier on a Lions offense that had six points to show for the game with Green Bay until very late.

To make matters worse for Detroit, one of the players who figured to be able to hold his own was veteran left tackle Taylor Decker. He has a shoulder injury, hasn't practiced all week, is questionable and would be replaced by 350-pound fourth-round rookie Giovanni Manu.

Dayo Odeyingbo could be in good shape to rush off the Bears' right edge in this matchup due to the injury, but it can't be properly predicted because of Decker's health uncertainty.

The reimagined offensive line wasn't the only Lions weakness in Week 1 but it's a good place for the Bears to start causing problems in coach Ben Johnson's return to Detroit.

Here are matchups the Bears can best exploit in Week 2 at Detroit.

WR DJ Moore vs. CB D.J. Reed

The battle of D.J.s and Detroit's Reed is but a journeyman type, now with his fourth NFL team. At 5-foot-9 and 190, he's a cornerback the 6-foot, 213-pound Moore should be able to overpower once he gets the ball in his hands, or even go up over provided quarterback Caleb Williams actually gets rid of he ball and sees him. Moore has 32 catches for 412 yards and four touchdowns with lows of five catches and 68 yards in five games against the Lion since Dan Campbell became the head Detroit coach

Moore had only three receptions in the opener with Minnesota, but was able to gain 68 yards with those. The Bears used him lining up in the backfield too much last week and letting him take advantage of a good matchup should allow him to be open. Last week Reed had the worst Pro Football Focus defensive grade of anyone on the Lions roster, and allowed four catches in five targets.

DT Gervon Dexter vs. RG Tate Ratledge

When Dexter is allowed to rush, he can be a problem even for good guard. He had a sack of J.J. McCarthy last week. Even Lions all-world tackle Penei Sewell has had problems with him when he lined up on the edge on occasion. Dexter is not as effective stopping the run because he doesn't get a good enough pad level and more experienced offensive linemen take advantage. Ratledge is not experienced. In his first NFL game Sunday, he had the worst pass blocking grade of anyone on the Lions offense.

TE Colston Loveland vs. LB Jack Campbell

This is a matchup nightmare for the Lions and many other teams but the Bears and Williams failed to exploit it properly in the opener. While Campbell is one of the better young linebackers in the league, he is at his best attacking. Asking him to cover a 6-foot-6 tight end with speed isn't using him properly, and last week Campbell had the second-worst PFF pass coverage grade of anyone on the roster. They have Alex Anzalone as a strong coverage linebacker but he's even less capable of matching Loveland's speed. If they try to match Anzalone on Loveland, Cole Kmet gets to match up on Campbell and has a big size edge.

DT Grady Jarrett vs. LG Christian Mahogany

Provided Jarrett's knee situation doesn't keep him sidelined, he should be able to exploit his experience advantage against a guard who underperformed in the opener—especially at pass blocking. Mahogany is in his second year but made just his second start last week. He had the second-worst pass blocking grade on the Lions line last week and allowed two sacks. Jarrett had his own problems with Minnesota but not really in the first three quarters.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.