The Detroit Lions are still in the mix to be
the No. 1 seed in the NFC heading into the postseason. Then again,
there's also a slim chance they'll be out of the playoff picture
altogether.
Detroit takes another step toward a playoff berth and its
first-ever NFC North crown, as it goes after a fourth straight win
in a road test against the hapless Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
The Lions clinched their second playoff spot in four years yesterday after Philadelphia lost
to Washington.
A win over the Bears would net the same result for the Lions, who
could also clinch their first division crown in 21 years with a win
coupled with a Green Bay loss to Tampa Bay.
"It's right there in front of us," defensive end Jason Jones said.
Everything broke right for the Lions in Week 15. First, the Buffalo
Bills pulled off an upset of the Packers, then Matt Prater's late
field goal helped the Lions pull out a 16-14 victory over the
Minnesota Vikings to move them into a tie atop the division with
the Packers.
Detroit actually holds the tiebreaker over Green Bay at the moment
given its win over the Packers earlier in the year. The Lions will
visit Lambeau Field in Week 17, likely with a chance at securing
their first division title since winning the NFC Central in 1993.
"We're not taking any game for granted, any play for granted," said
Matt Stafford, who threw for a season-low 153 yards in the win over
the Vikings. "It's not going to be pristine every time, but we're
going to fight tooth and nail for wins and that showed up again
today."
It's the first time the Lions reached 10 wins in the first 14 games
of the season since the Lions started 10-4 in 1991.
Chicago, meanwhile, is no such playoff position after a lifeless,
31-15, shellacking at the hands of the New Orleans Saints on Monday.
And now the team is in complete disarray.
Shortly after the loss, reports started to circulate that head coach
Marc Trestman may be out of a job at the end of the season. Then,
on Wednesday it leaked that the Bears would bench starting
quarterback Jay Cutler in favor of Jimmy Claussen, who hasn't
started a game since 2010.
"The bottom line is that this is a business based on winning and
losing," Trestman said. "We can't sugarcoat it. We are disappointed
that we're not playing well enough to win."
Cutler turned in another subpar performance against the Saints as
he threw for just 194 yards on 17-of-31 passing with two touchdown
passes and three interceptions for the Bears, who have dropped
their last three games.
"Overall, I just feel that we need passion to come from certain
places and I don't think the passion is always there all the time,"
Bears tight end Martellus Bennett said.
The Lions have won three straight over the Bears including a
Thanksgiving Day triumph when Stafford threw for 390 yards and two
scores. They haven't won consecutive contests in Chicago since a
six-game run from 1968-73
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Detroit only managed 233 total yards versus the Vikings, but could
be in store for a big bounce back this week considering the Bears
have given up 35.3 points and 438.0 yards over their three-game
slide.
Chicago's defense has given up a league-high 409 points, 19 more
than the Tennessee Titans, who have allowed 390. In fact, they've
given up 251 points in the first half alone.
To put that into perspective, three teams haven't surrendered that
many in 14 full games, led by the Lions with 238 and followed by
the Seahawks (242) and Cardinals (244).
Speaking of the Lions' second-ranked defense, they haven't allowed
more than 17 points in three straight games and five of the last
six.
That doesn't figure to change against a Bears team that will go
with Claussen, who has completed three of his nine pass attempts
this season.
Before this season, the former Notre Dame star hadn't appeared in
an NFL game since playing 13 for the Carolina Panthers as a rookie
after he was taken in the second round of the 2010 draft.
Cutler, meanwhile, has started all 14 games in his sixth season for
the Bears, completing 66.1 percent of his passes for 3,640 yards,
28 touchdowns and an NFL-high 18 interceptions.
He has fumbled 12 times, losing six to lead the league in overall
turnovers.
"Our whole football team isn't where it needs to be," Trestman
said. "Nobody's happy about it. Jay's not happy about it. We all
can do better."
Even without Cutler the Bears still have some offensive firepower
with wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, Bennett and running back Matt
Forte.
"You look at a guy like Alshon Jeffery," safety Glover Quin said.
"He can make tough catches. He can go deep on you. You look at
Bennett. He can move the chains. You look at Forte. He's a Pro Bowl
player. He's a big-time running back.
"You look at all those things. They can throw it. They can catch
it. They can run it."
OVERALL ANALYSIS
It's all there for the Lions taking. All they need to do is win and
they are in the playoffs. With a regular season-ending game in
Green Bay next week, the Lions know they'd be better off taking
care of business this week.
As for the Bears, well, what can you say. They looked like a team
that had packed it in last week. Now, they'll have a quarterback
who hasn't started a game in four years. It's getting ugly in
Chicago and it figures to be worse after Sunday.
Today's game can be heard on Newstalk 1060 with the Pre-Game Show at 11:30
