Odds Lions Beat the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day
The Lions haven't been able to buy a win thus far in 2021.
They've had multiple close encounters, losing on clock-expiring field goals to the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 and Week 5, respectively.
More recently, there's been the 16-16 tie in Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by the 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11.
Fast-forward to Detroit's annual Thanksgiving Day game, which this year, pits Dan Campbell & Co. against Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears.
The Lions, which sit at 0-9-1 this season, are 37-42-2 all-time on Thanksgiving. In contests with the Bears on the holiday, they own a 5-8 record.
Coming into this Week 12 matchup, the Bears have lost five in a row, which has led to a large sect of the Chicago fanbase calling for Nagy to be fired.
Also, the Bears won't have their starting quarterback for this NFC North divisional affair. Rookie Justin Fields, who exited Chicago's Week 11 tilt with the Ravens prematurely, will sit out the contest, and in his place, veteran backup Andy Dalton will get the start.
Sam Greene, The Enquirer, Imagn Content Services, LLC
All of this lines up Detroit with a realistic opportunity to claim its first victory of the season.
Yet, the Lions might've had a better shot if Fields was the Bears' starting signal-caller. The Ohio State product owns a league-worst QBR of 25.8 through 10 games.
The quarterback that is just one spot ahead of Fields in QBR: Detroit starter Jared Goff, who missed last week's matchup with the Browns due to a strained oblique. He possesses a 26.8 QBR through nine games.
In Goff's last five games under center, he's thrown only one touchdown pass, while tossing four interceptions. He didn't do nearly enough to lead the Lions to victory in any of those five contests.
And, until he proves to me that he can do just that (i.e. play good enough to aid Detroit in its efforts to capture a win), I just can't pick the Lions.
I give Detroit a 45 percent chance to secure the Week 12 victory.
