The 8-8 Chicago Bears travel to Ford Field to face the heavily favored 3-12-1 Detroit Lions.
Let’s here what your key matchups are.
Let’s here your game day predictions.
Will Stafford throw for 500 yards and 6 tds?
Will Golladay catch 4 TD’s.
Will Swift have a 100 yard rushing in his first NFL game.
Will Jeff Okudah lead the New look Lions defense to a shut out.
I wanna here your thoughts, predictions and key matchups.
Some stats and facts.
Chicago Bears lead series 101-74-5
The Bears have won 4 straight against the Lions.
Matt Patricia has yet to beat the Bears as a HC.
Matt Patricia has NOT won a season opener as a HC.
Matt Stafford has won 9 of the last 12 home games vs the Bears. Keep in mind 2 of those 3 losses came under MP’s coaching.
The Bears are a 2.5 under dog.
The over/under Is 43.5.
I firmly believe that MP has to beat the bears at home if he’s to have any hope of winning the division and making the playoffs. Let alone save his job.
I think this first game will tell us a lot. If this team comes out flat like it did in 2018 vs the Jets or if it falls apart like it did last year Vs ARZ than we will have an indication of what to expect.
MP needs to win this game. - No excuses… just win.
I have hopes that Stafford and company can put up over 24 points to kick start the season.
I’m not sure CHI has the firepower to win against the Lions if Stafford plays lights out.
An area f concern I have is the Bears pass rush vs. our OL w/ some new additions and no preseason games to get some work in together. If their pass rush gets heavy pressure and limits the run game, I could see the Bears winning a close one.
38-21 Lions
Our D is subpar, but playing a poor offense
Our O kicks their ass. They’re not ready for the screen game. They start to focus on taking it away, KG is too often in single coverage and has a great day! Hoch adds 60 yards and some great downfield blocking. Hall goes one catch for a TD and 50 yards. Lion RBs combine for 165 yards in production, most of which comes from Swift.
Being 2.5 point favorites is not what I’d call heavily favored. ranly, I think the Lions have a bunch of questions and unknowns, and there’s no way to tell how much the Lions have improved (or not). Or the Bears either for that matter, will they get their best RB back from a groin injury I think it was?
Like many games, it could come down to the trenches, who can run the ball and who can’t. Who gives their QB time to throw and who doesn’t. Who coughs it up and who doesn’t. And of course the effing refs, who gets the calls and who doesn’t. The Bears D is probably better than ours, but our QB and Offense is better than theirs, so it could come down to TOP and who gets tired in crunch time.
Beyond Montgomery, I have no idea how healthy the Bears are or will be on game day. I do think the Lions will be pretty much good to go, but I would expect to see a lot of subs rotating in and out, at least for us.
You have to realize that being the 1st game of the season will mean a lot of mistakes by both sides, probably more than most this year due to no preseason games. Probably some missed coverages and blown assignments, whiffed blocks and tackles, plus drops and missed communications between QB and receivers.
Frankly, I think Stafford will be the difference. Lions 23 Bears 17.
Matty Patty is 0-1-1 against first year first game QBs. This tells me he sucks as a ciach and coordinator and needs to let Bevell and Undlin handle this.
Blanket Robinson and let them try and win with a gimpy Montgomery and whichever uncertainty they trot out at QB.
Our D more than likely IS subpar that CHI’s. But that’s based on last year metrics and TBH I have no idea what to think about the Lion’s D this year. Additions of Shelton and Collins are major wild cards to me at positions of need. Talented guys - that know this system. Don’t leave Harmon out of that. The safety group goes for days. I think the LB group surprises, and will challenge the S group for strength of the D on this team. Collins - and a lot of solid players besides. Depth of which is the story of the D to me thus far really, in the early going. CB and DL, relatively weaker, with the CB group having a first round pick and moderate depth with Oruwariyae able to back up pretty much any spot, it seems. Beyond that, dunno, but I’d be surprised at this point if McRae doesn’t make the squad. Showing chops as backup material with ST skills to boot. And I mean - the DL is half new, and totally new on the interior. Depth is more a problem here. Shelton going down could change the complexion of a respectable starting 3/4. A healthy Hand, a plus, Williams emerging in the CHI trend he started? we’ll see - We have health there, right now, which is about the best thing we can say.
Oh and a new DC to really spin the wild card.
I just can’t be too dour on the D just yet. Its why I look hard at the first three games. All the truth comes out.
-For me. I read the early tea leaves in order to know how much grief I need to save myself from. Lion’s fan condition.
Edit: Hand apparently has had an undisclosed injury the last few weeks.
Ay Caramba
Sure it would be nice to get off to a good start, but it is flawed logic to deduce an entire season based upon one game, whether it be game 1 or game 10. This is especially true this year with no offseason or preseason games, teams will be rounding into form over the first half of the season. And there are hundreds of examples of teams finishing a season very differently than they started. Most years this is true of more than half the league.
Just last year, the Ravens started 2-2 and lost at home to the Browns, the Titans lost to the Jags, Colts and Flacco Broncos in starting 2-4. The Jets started 1-7 but finished 7-9. The Dolphins went from league-wide joke to start the year to defeating the Patriots in Foxboro to knock them out of a bye. The Niners D was subpar before their week 4 bye, giving up among others 20 points to the Steelers in Mason Rudolph’s first start. The Seahawks, in week 1, needed another Russ miracle to come from behind and beat the Bengals, in Seattle.
My point is, most teams are very different by the end of the season. To judge them wholly based on the first game or even the first few games, especially with no offseason, is statistically flawed, and also a recipe for pessimism.
If MP is going to win a SB then it starts with winning the division. If he can’t beat the bears at home. Then how can we expect him to beat MIN and GB? How is he even going to pull off a winning season if he can’t beat CHI at home?
I realize teams can start cold and finish hot but … what I am saying is that if this team comes out flat like it did against NYJ or if they collapse like they did against ARZ then the writing is likely on the wall. Meaning the odds are he’s not going to pull it off.
I see CHI as a statement game. This is or is not the same team we started the last two seasons with. How we do this game is a strong indicator of what this team is and can be under MP.
Nate Burleson @nateburleson just said on @gmfb that Stafford texted him after Peter Schrager @PSchrags said he was a dark horse MVP candidate. Nate said #9 told him and I quote, “Tell your boy Schrager to forget the dark horse part...I’M GOING FOR THE MVP!” #Lions#OnePride
Well then once again you and I disagree lol, I’m sure some day we’ll see eye-to-eye. I think every coach in the world would tell you not to put too much stock in one game. I think “statement” games can only be recognized in hindsight (i.e., Tennessee rallying to beat KC last year) and are in fact very rare. Aside from Tennessee over KC, maybe the 49ers winning in LA over the Rams 20-7? And that was as much a statement about the Rams as the Niners. You could argue maybe SF away over NO as well, but by that point we knew both teams were very good. There were no statements made other than what we expected.
Perhaps I’ve too often seen the Patriots have terrible games in the first month of the season only to bounce back and be dominant and that is skewing my viewpoint, but the data agrees with me, as do the coaching cliches: it’s only one game. ‘Statements’ and hot starts and all that is predominantly narrative-driven stuff. That’s not to say that it’s not important to get a win in our first game, only that it’s not the end of our season (or MP’s career) if we don’t.
