Where Bears Own an Edge Over Lions

Matchup advantages for the Bears in Sunday's game at Soldier Field against the Lions in a battle of NFC North teams with losing records.

Sunday's Bears opponent provides the rare opportunity for quarterback Justin Fields to face a struggling defense.

The Bears won't talk about it that way, and after the 15-9 win over Green Bay does seem to hide Detroit weakness.

However, for a change, the matchups are not all slanted severely against the Bears offensive line and wide receivers.

It could provide an opportunity for even more scoring by an offense that has scored 94 points the last three weeks.

The Lions have the worst-ranked defense, although they picked off  Aaron Rodgers  three times at Ford Field, including twice in the red zone.

The Lions rank 29th defending the pass and 31st defending the run. Fields' hot stretch started five games ago and he has a 99.7 passer rating over those five, including eight TDs to two interceptions. He has run for an average of 91 yards a game in that stretch.

And his efforts came against a group of average to above-average defenses. At the time those games were played, Dallas ranked sixth on defense, New England 12th, Washington 17th, Miami 23rd and Minnesota 27th.

Here's where the Bears could find they have a real edge in Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions.

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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