The Chicago Bears will face the Detroit Lions at home for their Week 13 matchup. The Lions are 4-7 and recently fired their Head Coach Matt Patricia. It will be interesting to see how interim Head Coach Darrell Bevell does against the Bears, a team that dominated the Lions when Matt Patricia was their coach. Here are three Bears keys to the game for Week 13.
The Bears’ defense played horribly against the Packers. They were lazy and seemed to give no effort, like they were fine with being crushed by Green Bay’s offense.
(Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
They gave up 41 points, had 0 sacks, 0 quarterback hits and 0 takeaways. All around the board, the defense could not make plays, forcing the Packers to punt only twice in the whole game. Chicago’s strength all year has been conversion defense, but Green Bay went 6/11 on 3rd down, 3-3 on 4th down and scored touchdowns on every red zone possession. The Bears defense was completely out of character.
Chicago needs to bounce back from this sorry effort. If there was ever a chance to do so, it is against Detroit. The Lions offense is much worse than the Packers, and is missing two of its best players; wide receiver Kenny Golladay and running back D’Andre Swift.
If Chicago wants to beat the Lions, their defense needs to get it together. Even though they are facing a bad offense, the defense cannot take this game lightly. Hopefully, the loss to the Packers woke them up and will inspire them to put in more effort.
Even though head coach Matt Nagy has not formally announced it, Mitch Trubisky will most likely be the starting quarterback on Sunday. When asked whether Trubisky will start against the Lions, Nagy said, “I don’t see why not.” All signs point towards Trubisky taking the field for Week 13.
(Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
Assuming he does start against the Lions, it will be his seventh time facing Detroit. In his previous six games against them, Trubisky has played very well. He has 14 touchdowns, 1601 yards, only four interceptions and has yet yet to lose to the division rival.
One factor that may change the game’s result is the Lions new head coach. Detroit fired Matt Patricia after getting blown out by the Texans on Thanksgiving. Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell took over as interim head coach, so things will most likely be different this time. This may affect Trubisky and the Bears offense on Sunday.
Trubisky’s great streak against the Lions points to a successful Week 13 performance. However, the change in Detroit’s head coach could lead to a difference in how Chicago’s starting quarterback plays.
The Bears starting running back David Montgomery has played very well this season. Even though he has repeatedly proven himself, he too often uninvolved in the Bears offense.
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Despite troubles with the Bears offensive line, he is third in the league with 18 broken tackles and fights for every yard. Against the Packers in Week 12, he was one of the only Bears players to play well, gaining 143 total yards on 16 touches and a touchdown.
Not only is he a skilled player, but Chicago’s offense cannot succeed without Montgomery getting the ball. The Bears offense runs off of play action, especially when Trubisky is the quarterback. If the opposing defense does not that the offense might actually run the ball, then play action is ineffective. Therefore, it is necessary for the Bears to successfully run the ball.
For Chicago’s offense to do well against the Lions, David Montgomery will need to get the ball. He can make things happen, and beyond that, the Bears offensive scheme cannot work without a running game.
After losing five games in a row, the Bears will bounce back and beat the Lions. Detroit is not a very good team, and inexperienced Head Coach Darrell Bevell will not lead the Lions to victory. Trubisky will not continue his same level of success against Detroit, but Chicago will still win a close game.
Bears 20 – Lions 17
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