Will the Lions stay in the playoff race?

Our Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears prediction is about setbacks and resurgence among other things. Plus, it will be exciting to see if the Lions can grab their still-present playoff chance by the scruff of the neck Sunday night.

Despite the nasty loss to the Panthers, they still have it in their hands to end up with a positive 9:8 record. Necessary for that: two home wins against the Bears and the Packers. Doable, but also not that easy.

Chicago, on the other hand, still have only three wins. They have now lost eight in a row, although they have come close to winning every now and then – but more and more often they have not. In this respect, we see them as the clear underdogs against Detroit – Justin Fields or not.

For Lions vs. Bears, our prediction is a home win for the Lions, who are clearly in better shape and could thus carry their play-off hopes into the last matchday. Who would have thought that ten weeks ago?

Kickoff of the all-NFC North duel is Sunday at 7:00 pm in Detroit. The game can be followed live on DAZN’s ENDZN.

Detroit Lions – Statistics & current form

The Lions fans had it all worked out so nicely with only wins on the remaining match days, but their team is simply not there yet. It was clear that a weaker performance would follow – like on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

There was not much going on on both sides of the field and especially their run defence was as spotty as it was at the beginning of the season, when the opposing running backs had open house every weekend.

Rushing Defense Disastrous

320 Rushing yards they allowed against Carolina – an almost surreal number. Some other NFL teams need 4-5 games to do that. With Foreman and Hubbard, two opposing running backs had over 120 yards.

The Lions must not allow themselves such an indisputable performance against the Bears, even though the danger certainly exists. The Bears also come mainly via the run and with 179.9 yards per game they have the best running offence in the NFL.

So it’s not an entirely happy matchup for Detroit, although they now have seven days to get ready for it in the best possible way. We can well imagine that they will close down the middle here on Sunday to force the Bears into the air. If they succeed, that would already be half the battle for success.

Own running game must work better again

Of course, another option to stop the opponent’s running game is to force your own and thus increase possession. That didn’t work at all against the Panthers either. Only 45 rushing yards were recorded in the end for the otherwise so strong unit around Williams and Swift.

We don’t believe that the Lions will have such a bad day again, because there is not much at stake for Chicago. On the contrary, a loss would actually suit them quite well for a good draft pick. In this respect, a bet on Detroit for Bears vs. Lions is definitely recommended.

Key Players:
QB: Jared Goff
RB: Jamaal Williams
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown
TE: Brock Wright
K: Michel Badgley

Chicago Bears – stats & current form

The top question for the Bears: do they even want to win? Meanwhile, only a single tie separates them from next year’s No. 1 pick. No team loses on purpose, but you can try hard and still lose, as the Bears have been doing regularly of late.

Another win this season, on the other hand, could lose them up to two more draft spots. If we could see the Bears going toe-to-toe with Detroit at home under normal circumstances, these conditions make them the clear underdogs.

Fields and then nothing comes for a long time

Most notable against the Bills last game day was the only 11 rushing yards for Justin Fields, who otherwise regularly cracks the 80 or even 100 yard mark. The fact that he runs less is a clear sign that he no longer wants to take the last risk – also in favour of his own health.

That is quite understandable. Through the air, however, the Bears are still not getting much together, even if he has had his interception susceptibility under control in the last two games. Over the season, however, there are already ten of them.

Scarcely any wide receivers left

But it’s also difficult for Fields to find kickoffs. After the departures of Mooney, St. Brown and Chasepool, he has only a very depleted starting receiver pool. Jones Jr, Bettis or Pringle really only mean something to proven NFL experts and all of them have not yet achieved much in their careers.

But he’ll have to make do with those again on Sunday, which might not be enough against the Lions’ power offense. If Fields doesn’t put up another monster run game (which we don’t think he will), the odds on the Lions are the much better betting option in Chicago vs. Detroit.

Key Players:
QB: Justin Fields
RB: David Montgomery
WR: Dante Pettis
TE: Cole Kmet
K: Cairo Santos

Detroit Lions – Chicago Bears Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

This matchup happened a few weeks ago and the Lions won 31:30, but the Bears had one or two more wide receivers on the field. The other absences are already weakening Chicago badly.

The fact that there is not much at stake for the Bears and that the Lions are within reach of the play-offs also plays a role. So for us, the Lions are the somewhat clearer favourites in this renewed encounter.

Thus, for Bears vs. Lions, the odds on Detroit -6.5 are our favourite bet, whereby the handicap can even be raised up to -7 in favour of the value. Half-time/final score bets on Detroit are also available for Sunday, however.

Detroit Lions – Chicago Bears Tip

The Lions were dealt a blow against the Panthers, but it may have come at just the right time. This gives them a chance to work on their run defence in particular. If they are better against Chicago, they should win the game without any problems.

We assume that head coach Dan Campbell will take the right measures and get his Lions back on track. For Chicago vs. Detroit, a bet on the Lions -6.5 is our No.1 bet, followed by other betting options – but all in favour of the away team.

Alternatively, bets on a Jamaal Williams touchdown are also recommended. With 14 touchdowns already, he still leads the pack of running backs league-wide and should get good chances against the weak Bears defence. The odds on Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears are good value