Bears and Lions: Who Wins and Why
Comparing the key position group matchups to determine who has an advantage with a look at key statistics in Sunday's Bears at Lions Week 11 game.
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:09 >> Well, the Bears have Justin Fields back, but
00:11 is that really enough to make them competitive with the Detroit Lions?
00:14 Last year, the Bears went to Detroit and lost 41 to 10.
00:18 They had Justin Fields that day too.
00:20 It's the Bears and the Lions at Ford Field on Sunday noon.
00:25 Here's who wins and why.
00:28 It's a total push when the Lions are running against the Bears run defense.
00:33 David Montgomery and Jameer Gibbs running behind one of the best offensive lines in
00:37 football.
00:38 This should make it a total mismatch, right?
00:40 Not so fast.
00:41 The Bears are second at stopping the run.
00:44 Resilient behind TJ Edwards and Andrew Billings.
00:47 It's gonna take more than David Montgomery's runs against his old team to
00:50 beat the Bears defense.
00:51 Also, the Bears running against the Lions run defense.
00:55 The Bears should be explosive now with Fields back in the lineup and
00:58 Khalil Herbert back.
01:00 They haven't had a run longer than 34 yards this year, but
01:03 either one of them can go the distance on any play.
01:06 However, the Lions with Aline McNeil are plugging up the middle.
01:09 Detroit is third stopping the run and the Bears second at rushing, so
01:14 it's a real wash.
01:15 Also, even the Bears passing against Detroit's pass defense.
01:21 This may surprise some, but
01:23 Detroit's pass rush simply hasn't been as effective as it was last year.
01:27 I expected more from Aiden Hutchinson than four and
01:30 a half sacks at this point in the season.
01:33 And if it wasn't for defensive back Ryan Branch,
01:35 the Lions passing defense would look rather mundane.
01:38 They rank only 20 at stopping the pass.
01:42 Fields will have Russ no matter what anyone says.
01:46 It's been more than a month away from the game for him.
01:48 And this is a team that totally shut him down last year in the second game.
01:52 However, he does bring that deep threat back to the attack.
01:55 Another area where they look pretty equal is special teams.
02:00 Cairo Santos missed finally two games ago, but
02:02 he just picked it right back up with a tough 54 yarder last week.
02:07 Detroit has punt returner Khalif Raymond averaging 10.5 yards of return.
02:12 A little better than Trent Taylor is doing for the Bears.
02:15 The Bears haven't been great at punt coverage, but neither have the Lions.
02:18 [MUSIC]
02:22 The Lions should have the advantage when they're passing against the Bears
02:25 pass defense.
02:26 Sure, Montez Sweat helps with double teams, but
02:29 the Lions offensive line really doesn't need to double team anyone.
02:32 Amon Ross, St. Brown catches passes all over the formation.
02:37 Jared Goff has a new weapon in tight end Sam Laporta,
02:40 the master of third down catches.
02:43 And we all remember what happened when the Bears pass defense went up against
02:47 the Chargers and Justin Herbert.
02:49 It's likely to be the same type of thing going against Goff.
02:51 Another Lions advantage, coaching.
02:56 Everyone made fun of Dan Campbell at one time, but
02:58 this tough Lions team has his fingerprints all over it.
03:02 The Bears coaching staff talks a good game with their hits principle, but
03:06 in the end, they haven't produced.
03:08 Also in intangibles, the Lions have a big edge here with Ford Field now,
03:12 one of the noisiest stadiums in the NFL.
03:15 Before it used to be that the Bears fans wouldn't outnumber the Lions fans at
03:19 times.
03:20 This all adds up to a 31 to 17 Detroit win.
03:28 It should be fairly close until the final five minutes,
03:31 maybe a one score game, but then the Lions will put it away.
03:35 Detroit is a team that has risen and
03:38 the Bears are just a team talking about doing it.
03:40 (upbeat music)
03:43 (upbeat music)