Chicago Bears vs Detroit Lions – Week 16 Game Preview: Overview, Keys to Game, Insights
The bottom has fallen out on the Bears (4-10) season after the firing of Matt Eberflus on the day after Thanksgiving. Chicago suffered a pair of lopsided defeats on the road in San Francisco and Minneapolis to bring their losing streak to eight games. Now interim head coach Thomas Brown and company have an even tougher task with another matchup against the high-flying Lions at Soldier Field Sunday.
Detroit (12-2) had their 10-game winning streak snapped by the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field last week but they still scored 42 points in the loss. Injuries have really mounted for the NFC North leaders, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, although they also lost former Bears running back David Montgomery to a knee injury for the rest of the regular season.
Quarterback Jared Goff continues to have a huge season with five touchdowns and 494 yards passing against Buffalo. Jahmyr Gibbs is going to have to pick up the slack with Montgomery unavailable but he has been explosive in 2024. Tight end Sam LaPorta is having a huge season and wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown had nearly 200 yards receiving in his last game.
The Lions have had to put five players from their defense on injured reserve in the last month. Added on to several other key injuries, especially to key pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the unit has started to show the strain allowing 79 points in the last two games. The Bears unfortunately aren’t currently performing offensively like they will be able to exploit that fact.
Chicago came very close to beating Detroit just three weeks ago but it feels like that was a different season. They are going to have to bring a lot more to the table than they have recently if they want to even keep close in this contest. If they don’t it’s not going to be a very happy holiday at Halas Hall.
Where to Watch/Listen
- Sunday, December 22 at 12:00pm CT on FOX, WBBM Radio (English), and WRTO Radio (Spanish).
Keys to Victory
Here are my keys to Sunday’s game. If these things happen, the Bears should have a shot to win.
- Have a successful opening series. Anyone who has watched the 2024 Chicago Bears knows very well that they seem to stumble badly out of the gate almost every game. They need to at least move the ball in their opening drive and ideally get a touchdown. Another slow start could get out of hand in a hurry against the Lions powerhouse offense.
- Don’t let Goff get time to throw. The Bears pass rush has basically dried up recently and Detroit’s quarterback is deadly when he has a chance to survey the field. If he is under pressure Goff can be mistake prone and will often fumble when he is sacked.
- Do something to protect Caleb Williams. The young QB has been under extreme pressure as the makeshift offensive line continues to falter in front of him. If they want to have any chance to win they have to do something to get him away from the rush.
Don’t Tell Me the Odds
The Lions are favored by 6.5 points on the road against the Bears. The over/under comes in at 47.5, almost right on average for the NFL this season.
It’s Football Weather
It’s going to be a cold but sunny day at Soldier Field this Sunday with a high temperature of 34.
My Prediction
At the moment it’s very hard to see how the Bears will be able to hang with the Lions the way they are playing. Chicago will start slow and Detroit will have a much easier victory then they had on Thanksgiving with a 31-14 romp.
Official Bears Preview
Thomas Brown joins Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer on Bears, etc. podcast to breakdown the Bears’ game against the Vikings and look forward to the Lions game.
