Bears and Lions: TV, Radio, Streaming
Chicago Bears (3-7) at Detroit Lions (0-9-1)
Kickoff: 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Ford Field, Detroit.
TV: Fox (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi).
TV Streaming: Fox on fuboTV, free trial.
Radio: WBBM AM-780, FM-105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote).
National Radio: Westwood One (Ryan Radtke, Tony Boselli).
Spanish Radio: TUDN AM-1200, Latino Mix FM-93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)
The line: Bears by 3 (over/under 41 1/2). Betting information at SI.com
BearDigest.com Pick: Bears 23, Lions 17.
BearDigest Record to Date: 9-1 (8-2 vs. the spread).
The Series: 184th meeting, Bears lead the series 103-75-5. The Bears won earlier this season 24-14 at Soldier Field and have won six of the last seven. The last Lions win at Ford Field came in 2017. It's been a series of wild swings, as the before the Bears won 6 of 7, Detroit won 9 of 10.
The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Nagy is 31-27 in his fourth season including 0-2 in the playoffs and 6-1 against the Lions.
Lions coach Dan Campbell is 5-16-1 overall and 0-9-1 in his first season with the Lions. He lost his only game against Nagy. Campbell had a 5-7 record coaching the Dolphins on an interim basis in 2015.
Last Week: The Bears lost 16-13 to the Baltimore Ravens as Andy Dalton relieved injured starter Justin Fields (ribs) just after halftime, threw one touchdown pass and later threw a 49-yard bomb to Marquise Goodwin for the go-ahead points againt the blitz on fourth-and-11. However, the Bears defense gave up a 72-yard TD drive for the game-deciding points.
The Lions lost 13-10 to the Cleveland Browns with backup quarterback Tim Boyle starting. He threw for only 77 yards and the Lions had 57 yards of their 245 yards net offense on one D'Andre Swift run. They trailed 13-0 at halftime and after pulling within 13-10 never got past their own 41 on their final possession.
Injuries: Bears QB Justin Fields (ribs), DE Akiem Hicks (ankle) and running back Damien Williams (calf) are out. Wide receiver Allen Robinson (hamstring) is doubtful. Wide receiver Darnell Mooney (foot) and safety Eddie Jackson (hamstring) are questionable.
Lions OLB Trey Flowers (knee), T Matt Nelson (ankle), CB A.J. Packer (ankle), G Halapoulivaati Vaitai (concussion) and WR Trinity Benson (knee) are out. QB Jared Goff (oblique), RB Jemar Jefferson (knee/ankle) and DE Michael Brockers (knee) are questionable.
What to watch: How the Bears recover from not only a week without real practices but the mental stress of constant reports Nagy was being fired after this game, a report Bears ownership now says is not true long after the possible damage was done. ... How does Dalton look as he starting quarterback in place of Fields. ... Can the Bears secondary bounce back from blowing the lead in the final minutes two straight games? ... Can the Bears end a five-game losing streak, one longer than the Lions' losing streak. ... Will Goff's return trigger passing game improvement for the Lions after only 77 yards last week while he was injured? ... Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties two games ago and the Lions definitely have been closer to winning but have not produced on offense in either game.
Matching Up: The Bears are 31st on offense, 32nd (last) in passing and sixth in rushing. They are 11th on defense, 11th against the pass and 24th against the run.
The Lions are 27th on offense, 30th passing and 16th rushing. The Lions are 27th on defense, 13th passing and 31st rushing.
Of Note: The Bears are 10-8 against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. ... The Bears have 31 sacks, tied for the league lead with Minnesota. OLB Robert Quinn has 10 of them. Quinn's 29 forced fumbles for his career are second only to Chandler Jones (30) among active players. ... Bears OLB Trevis Gipson had his first career sack in the Week 4 win over Detroit. ... The Bears are 19-15-2 on Thanksgiving Day including wins in their last two in Detroit in 2018 and 2019. ... The Lions have run for 160 yards or more in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2004. ... The Lions have lost three games by three of fewer points and six times by 10 points or less. ... Swift leads all NFL running backs with 53 receptions. ... LionsB Charles Harris has a sack in each of his last two games against the Bears and had a strip-sack in the Week for game. ... Lions CB Amani Oruwariye has a career-high four sacks. ... Detroit has gone 14 games without winning. Its last win was over the Bears on Dec. 6, 34-30 at Soldier Field.
Key Individual Matchups
Bears S Tashaun Gipson vs. Lions TE T.J. Hockenson
The Bears couldn't control Mark Andrews on Sunday as he made eight receptions for 89 yards and Hockenson is an NFC version of the Ravens tight end. Baltimore got Andrews open out in the flat or to the wide side of the field at will. Defending Hockenson with either Christian Jones or Alec Ogletree in short range or Gipson and backup slot cornerback Marqui Christian downfield can be difficult. He has 54 receptions for 499 yards, as the Lions have had trouble getting him open downfield but that's more the result of their offensive play caller. The fact the Bears have chosen Gipson to cover tight ends and left Eddie Jackson back more this year is apparent from the average depth of target when Gipson has been targeted by QBs. This year it's 4.1 yards downfield. In 2020 it was 12.5 yards downfield. Gipson's 12.9% missed tackle rate doesn't make for a strong stat against big tight ends.
Bears OLB Trevis Gipson vs. Lions RT Penei Sewell
The rookie first-rounder, Sewell, is coming off one of his better games and did not allow a pressure, according to . Gipson has had to become a starter because of Khalil Mack's season-ending injury and appears capable of rushing the passer in longer down-and-distance situations but has been vulnerable against the run or if pulled into short pass coverage. Gipson has missed on 18.5% of his tackles so the drop off is obvious—Mack had no missed tackles this season. The Bears will put in Cassius Marsh to spell Gipson but experience similar problems then. Whether they try to fit Bruce Irvin into the edge rusher rotation remains to be seen.
Bears LG Cody Whitehair vs. Lions DL Michael Brockers
Despite a very low Pro Football Focus grade (45.3) compared to the rest of his career, Brockers remains the chief threat on the Lions defensive front and it's a group which has improved greatly over the last five weeks. Brockers, the former Rams defensive lineman, is a disruptive force with his size and athleticism at 6-foot-5, 297 and often stunts with outside rushers. He is questionable for this game but should play. Brockers is a real problem for the Bears using his long arms to knock down Andy Dalton passes. Like the rest of the Bears offensive line, Whitehair had a shaky start to the season and has rebounded. PFF calls him the 31st best guard of 78 rated this season in the league with a 66.4 grade, the second-lowest PFF score of his career. Whitehair has allowed three sacks and committed three penalties this season.
Bears ILB Roquan Smith vs. Lions RB D'Andre Swift
The Lions have become heavily reliant on the run. They'll throw extensively to Swift as well. He has 54 receptions already at this point. So he's going to be going head-up against Smith in this game and based on the last month this looks like a total mismatch. Smith has been playing at the Pro Bowl level he played at last year without getting named to the all-star game. At least he's been doing it for about half this season. He hit a peak last week with 17 tackles, including two for loss. His hits have become bigger and the Bears have needed this as other players have been sidelined. Swift's 4.1 yards a carry and 521 yards rushing speak to how much he's used, but they do use running back Jamaal Williams extensively, as well.
Bears WR Darnell Mooney vs. Lions CB Amani Oruwariye
With Allen Robinson's return unlikely considering his hamstring pull, Mooney remains their chief receiving threat and he already burned the Lions once. A 64-yard pass against the Lions was the first deep ball Justin Fields ever completed. Mooney hasn't had as good of a season in terms of total dropped passes—he has three and only one last year—but his production totals have gone up and he's at 571 yards for 41 catches, both team highs. Somewhat disturbing is that quarterbacks have a 64.9 passer rating when they throw to him compared to 85.9 last year. This more reflects Fields' inexperience. Oruwariye is part of a makeshift Lions secondary thrown together after numerous injuries in the early season. He would have been playing anyway, and has been rated the 110th cornerback out of 118 graded by Pro Football Focus with a 49.8 overall grade. This said, Oruwariye appears improved over last year. The 6-foot-2 cornerback has made four interceptions and improved his passer rating against to a respectable 85.8, but he still allows far too many receptions at over 70% completions.
Bears DE Bilal Nichols vs. Lions G Tommy Kraemer
A concussion to Halapoulivaati Vaitai is forcing the Lions to turn to undrafted Notre Dame lineman Kraemer, who is 6-6, 319 pounds and has played just 37 snaps so far. It's possible Vaitai would be available but improbable after only four days since he was injured. It would be Nichols and not Akiem Hicks facing Kraemer because of Hicks' ankle injury. Nichols had struggled earlier in the year with toe and knee problems but is coming off a pair of stronger games, and the Bears will need the defensive interior to strengthen against the Lions' power running. Nichols is in a contract year after he seemed to make a breakthrough last season. To keep the Bears interested in bringing him back it wouldn't hurt him to have a strong finish to this season. He had four tackles, including one for loss, and a QB hit in the last two games.
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