The Chicago Bears travel to Ford Field to renew their rivalry with the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day 2019. These two teams faced off in late November last year and the Bears ended up winning that contest 23-16. Chicago has beaten Detroit in their last three meetings, including a 20-13 home victory last November 10.
Chicago heads to this contest after a 19-14 win over the New York Giants last week. On the other hand, the Lions are still licking the wounds of their 16-19 defeat to the Washington Redskins.
The Chicago Bears picked up a key win last week as they defeated the New York Giants 19-14. The Bears have failed to live up to their preseason expectations after they won the NFC North Division last year with a 12-4 record. This year, the Bears are just 5-6 SU and they are currently in third place in the divisional standings.
Mitchell Trubisky has thrown for 1,858 passing yards with 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. David Montgomery leads the ground attack with 519 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on 159 carries. Allen Robinson has caught 63 passes for 764 yards with four touchdown catches.
The Bears are 30th in the league in passing at 190.7 yards per game. Chicago is 29th in rushing at 78.5 ground yards per contest. They are ranked 30th in scoring at 17.1 points per game this season and they are also allowing their opponents to score 17.1 points per game as well.
The Detroit Lions opened the 2019 season with a promising 2-0-1 SU record but they have faltered to 3-7-1 since then. Not only are the Lions losing games, but they are also losing their quarterbacks to injuries. Starter Matthew Stafford is having back issues and was replaced by backup Jeff Driskel. But Driskel is questionable for this game with a hamstring issue.
Jeff Driskell has thrown for 685 passing yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. Kevin Golladay has caught 43 passes for 792 yards with 8 touchdowns. Kerryon Johnson is their leading rusher but he is on the injury reserve list along with Frank Ragnow, Tracy Walker, Da’Shawn Hand, Rashaan Melvin, and Matthew Stafford.
Detroit is the 6th best passing team in the league at 272.8 yards per game. They are also 18th in rushing at 105.6 ground yards per game this season. The Lions are scoring an average of 23.6 points per game this season, 11th overall. They are giving up 26.5 points per contest.
Chicago is 2-5 SU in their last seven games played. The Bears are 2-3 SU in five road games played this season. Detroit is 0-6 SU in their last six games played. The Lions are 1-7 SU in their last seven games played against the NFC North Division. Head to head, the Lions are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played against the Bears. Detroit is also 5-1 SU in their last six home games against the Bears.
The Bears offense has struggled to hit their mark this season. Even against the Giants last week, Chicago rushed for only 65 yards and gained only 4.9 yards per play. Despite that, the defense helped them beat New York 19-14. Sherrick McManis and Danny Trevathan are questionable for Thursday while Bobbie Massie is out after suffering a high ankle sprain last week.
The Lions have lost seven of eight with Jeff Driskell and Bo Scarborough behind center. Stafford may be out for the season and the injuries are piling up right now for Detroit. Damon Harrison is out with an injury and there are several players on the Detroit secondary who are questionable for this game.
The Bears beat the Lions 20-13 in Chicago during their first meeting of the season. With both offenses sputtering right now, I don’t expect much scoring in this game. Between these two teams though, Chicago is playing with a much better defense and the Lions’ defense is banged up. I like the Bears to win this game with defense.
PREDICTION: CHICAGO BEARS
The Bears are 1-6 ATS in their last seven games played. Chicago is 1-4 ATS in their last five games played on the road, and 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games against the NFC North Division. The Lions are 0-6 ATS in their last six games played. Detroit is 2-3 ATS in five home games played this season, 0-5 ATS in their last five games against the NFC Conference. Head to head, the Bears are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Lions.
The Bears have outscored the Lions by an average of 8.67 points per game in their last three meetings. The Bears’ offense has struggled this season and while the Lions have scored better than them, Detroit’s offense has scored an average of 18.7 points per game in their last three games played. I’m going with the Bears here because, in a game between struggling offenses, the team with the better defense has a better chance of winning the game.
PREDICTION: BEARS -3
The total has gone under in each of the Bears’ last five games played. The under is 3-2 in Chicago’s last five games played on the road and 11-2 in their last 13 games played against the NFC Conference. The total has gone over in six out of the last nine games played by the Lions. Detroit has seen the total go over in four out of their last five games played on the road. The under is 4-2 in the Lions’ last six games played in November. Head to head, the under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
These teams have combined to score an average of 42.6 points per game in their last 10 meetings and 42.67 points per game in their most recent three head to head games played. Matt Nagy’s Bears have averaged just 17.1 points per game this season and an even lower 15.3 points per game in their last three assignments, On the other hand, the Lions have scored an average of 18.1 points per game in their last three games played and are just picking up an average of 213.0 points per game over the same period. I don’t trust both of these offenses right now and because of that, I will have to go with the under.
PREDICTION: UNDER 38.5
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