Previewing Lions at Bears

Detroit Lions (2-6) at Chicago Bears (3-6)

Kickoff: Sunday, noon, Soldier Field, Chicago.

TV: Fox (Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin)

Streaming: fubo TV (Sign up for free trial)

Radio: WBBM AM-780, FM-105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Spanish Radio TUDN AM-1200, Latino Mix FM-93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)1

Latest Betting Line: Bears by 2 1/2 (Over/under 48 1/2). Money Line, Lions beat $100 to win $125. Bears bet $150 to win $100. Most up to date betting info at SI.com sportsbook.

The Series: The 185th matchup. The Bears lead the series 104-75-5 including a 1932 indoor championship game at Chicago Stadium. The Bears have won seven of the last eight. Detroit's only win in the series since 2017 was 34-30 at Soldier Field in 2020.

The Coaches: Lions coach Dan Campbell is 5-19 in his second season with Detroit and third as a head coach overall. He is 10-26 as an NFL head coach.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 3-6 in his first season. White serving as Colts defensive coordinator his team beat the Lions in their only matchup.

Last Week: The Lions knocked off the Green Bay Packers 15-9 by picking off Aaron Rodgers three times, twice inside the red zone. Kerby Joseph had two of the interceptions and Aidan Hutchinson one. The Lions won despite getting just 137 yards passing from Jared Goff.

The Bears lost 35-32 to Miami despite an NFL quarterback rushing record of 178 yards by Justin Fields, including a 61-yard TD scramble. Fields threw three touchdown passes, two to tight end Cole Kmet and one to Darnell Mooney, but a missed defensive pass interference on a jump ball within field goal range to receiver Chase Claypool in the game's closing minutes proved decisive. The league on Friday admitted to the official's error on the play.

This Season: The Lions started off hot as the league's top offensive team for four weeks but they were 1-3 while scoring 35, 36, 24 and 45 points, then did a reversal and have scored 48 points in the last four games, including a 29-0 loss to New England. QB Jared Goff is 173-of-275 for 2,041 yards with 14 TDs, 7 INTs and a 91.8 passer rating. Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has 39 catches for 399 yards with a team-high three TDs. The Lions traded tight end T.J Hockenson, who had three TD catches. Two other receivers are on injured reserve, D.J Chark and Quintez Cephus. The Detroit running attack has worked well with Jamaal Williams carrying 126 times for 545 yards. Hutchinson, their rookie pass rusher, has 4 1/2 sacks, three coming in one game and 1 1/2 in another.

Of the Bears' six losses, four came by a touchdown and conversion or less and in the two they lost by more, they had chances to get back into the game in the second half. FIelds is 110-of-187 for 1,322 yards with 10 TD passes and six interceptions for a passer rating of 85.0. He has a team-high 602 yards on 91 carries (6.6 yards a carry). Khalil Herbert has the most yardage of their backs with 586 yards on 98 runs for a 6.0-yard average and four TDs while David Montgomery leads in carries with 106 for 397 yards and two TDs. They traded for Pittsubrgh Steelers receiver Chase Claypool two weeks ago and Mooney leads the team with 32 receptions for 407 yards and a TD. Kmet has 19 catches for 200 yards and a team-high three TDs. Of the players still on their roster, safety Jaquan Brisker leads in sacks with three. Defensive tackle Justin Jones has six tackles for loss and two sacks.

Matching Up:

The Lions are seventh on offense, eighth in passing and ninth in rushing. They are 11th in scoring. Detroit's defense is 32nd (last) and is 29th against the pass and 31st against the run. They have allowed the most points in the NFL.

The Bears are 23rd on offense, 32nd (last) in passing and first in rushing. They are 21st in scoring on offense. Chicago's defense is 18th overall, 10th against the pass and 30th against the run. They are 21st in scoring defense

Injury Report

For the Lions, WR Josh Reynolds is out (back) and tackle Matt Nelson is doubtful (calf). S Kerby Joseph (concussion), DB Chase Lucas (ankle), DB Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) and linebacker Malcolm Rodriquez (elbow) are questionable.

For the Bears, CB Kindle Vildor (ankle) is out and DE Al-Quadin Muhammad is doubtful. G Teven Jenkins (hip) and CB Jaylon Johnson (oblique) are questionable.

Of Note

The Lions are tied for next to last in sacks with 12 and the Bears are just ahead of them with 13. ... The Bears have run for at least 225 yards in four straight games. They are the only other team besides the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers to do this and the first since the 1978 Patriots with at least 200 yards rushing in four straight games. ... The Lions are trying for consecutive wins for the first time since 2020 when Matt Patricia was still coach. They have gone 13 straight road games without a win, their last victory on the road coming in Chicago in 2020. ... Bears safety Eddie Jackson is tied for second in the NFL in interceptions with four.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears DT Armon Watts vs. Lions C Frank Ragnow

With 23 tackles, but only one tackle for loss, Watts hasn't had a big impact up front but probably has a bit steadier than other Bears interior defensive linemen during six straight starts. As a former Viking, he's familiar with Ragnow, a Pro Bowl center in 2020 who is 6-foot-5, 311 pounds, has one penalty and one sack allowed this season. Pro Football Focus grades Ragnow as the fifth-best center in the league this year and fourth-best run blocker. He can be particularly disruptive to the Bears' one-gap defensive front if allowed to execute the double team on three-technique defensive tackle Justin Jones, so it's up to Watts to keep Ragnow from getting off the ball quickly.

Bears DE Dominique Robinson vs. Lions LT Taylor Decker

Robinson, the fifth-round Bears rookie, has been issued a bit of a challenge by Eberflus to make some plays.

"He's really practiced well," Eberflus said. "He's expected to make more splash plays, more plays that are meaningful, impactful plays. More tackles, more QB pressures, and we expect that out of him going forward."

Doing it against Decker won't be easy. The seventh-year tackle is 6-7, 318 with a long reach and will have blocking methods Robinson likely hasn't faced. Decker isn't having one of his best seasons. PFF grades him 49th of 78 tackles and he has the worst PFF grade of his career (64.1). Still, Robinson is a raw player, struggling and likely to start with Al-Quadin Muhammad doubtful to play with a knee injury.

Bears DE Trevis Gipson vs. Lions RT Penei Sewell

Sewell, the seventh pick of the 2021 draft, is playing more in his second year like he did at Oregon. The 6-5, 335-pounder is graded as the ninth best tackle overall and fifth-best run blocker. The Bears' run defense has struggled through much of the season's first half anyway, and it will be even tougher trying to be stout against a pair of tackles like the Bears will face on Sunday, along with the running of D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams.

Bears CB Kyler Gordon vs. Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

St. Brown is not catching as many passes this season and his average is similar to last year at 10.2 yards per reception, slightly better than 10.1 yards a catch last year. The Lions receiver corps is a bit depleted after D.J. Chark's injury, so there's more pressure on the second-year brother of Bears receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown will play all over the formation but is particularly effective finding open spots over the middle against zones. Gordon's play has been better than early in this, his rookie year. His passer rating against is 100 and he has allowed one TD according to Sportradar. He's given up 43 catches in 57 targets (75.4%).

Bears RT Riley Reiff vs. Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson

A first-round Lions draft pick, Reiff is the likely starter against his old team after playing for injured Larry Borom last week. Borom actually was healthy but had just come off a concussion. Eberflus hedged when asked if Borom would return immediately to his starting spot. Reiff has played 155 downs this season without allowing a sack, two pressures and has one penalty. He has very strong pass blocking grade from PFF of 72.8. Borom had allowed 10 pressures and three sacks in his 417 offensive plays. Hutchinson was the second pick of this year's draft and has been getting good pressure on passers but had had sacks in only two games. He had three sacks against Washington in Week 2 and 1 1/2 against Dallas three games ago. He does have 14 pressures and three tackles for loss.

Bears WR Darnell Mooney vs. Lions CB Mike Hughes

The Lions benched Amani Oruwariye and are going between Hughes and Jerry Jacobs in his place. Oruwariye was ranked the worst cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, so the move was understandable. But if he was worst and was starting, what does it say for Hughes and Jacobs when they were behind him? Mooney has owned the Lions in the past, averaging 4.3 catches for 82.3 yards in four games with Detroit. Mooney caught his first touchdown pass last week and matched a season high with seven catches. The Bears threw him too many passes at the line of scrimmage in that game but he'll no doubt get a different game plan this week against the league's worst defense. Hughes has a 122.8 paser rating against when targeted and is allowing 76.9% completions, according to Sportradar. Jacobs, a second-year player with 16 games of experience, has been working his way back to full health and if it's determined he is completely ready no it wouldn't be a surprise if the Lions go to him entirely because he has been better than Hughes in his limited (46) defensive plays.

Bears LG Cody Whitehair vs. Lions DT Isaiah Buggs

Buggs, the former Steelers player who has 11 career starts in four seasons, has no sacks or tackles for loss to go with 17 tackles, five of which came in one game four weeks ago. Buggs is ranked 103rd out of 122 defensive tackles by Pro Football Focus and will be on the field most snaps, with 69% played, but isn't a big impact player and Whitehair is undoubtedly the most consistent Bears offensive lineman when healthy, as well as their most experienced. Whitehair returned from IR last week and is ranked the 18th best guard in the league by PFF. It's probably no surprise the Bears tied their season low for sacks allowed (2) with Whitehair was back helping protect Fields.

Bears TE Cole Kmet vs. Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez

Kmet is starting to take on a bigger role in the offense, as he comes off of a season's best five receptions, including two TDs. It was the first time in his career he has caught more than one TD in a game. Most of his work last week came outside the tackles but the Lions' linebackers invite tight end routes over the middle. Kmet has 35 pounds and 7 inches of height on Rodriguez, whose great asset is 4.52-second speed. Kmet has 14 catches for 108 yards with a TD in four games with the Lions.

Bears RB David Montgomery vs. Lions LB Alex Anzalone

Anzalone ranks currently as the 68th best of 81 off-ball linebackers graded by PFF. He was 78th of 86 last year. Anazalone's strength as a linebacker had always been considered pass coverage. He has only had one season where he allowed a passer rating against when targeted of 85.0 or higher, and is in his fifth seasons. Montgomery, like Mooney, has owned the Lions in these games over the years with 70.5 yards per six games and four TDs, and 10 receptions for 99 yards. In six games he has averaged This year, though, he is regarded by PFF as 66th of 81 against the pass. Montgomery hasn't worked much as a receiver lately with five catches in four games for 43 yards but has done it extensively in the past and has been more of a pass blocker recently in the passing attack. What Montgomery does do well is break tackles and Anzalone has missed tackles 19 times the last two seasons according to Sportradar.

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