The last week of the regular season is here, with Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions traveling to take on Zach Miller and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. A bad season has only gotten worse for Chicago, as the team has lost three of its last four. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan 3 and will air on FOX.
The Lions won in a tight one over the Bears 37-34 in their last meeting. That Week 6 game marked five straight wins for Detroit against Chicago, going back to the 2013 season. Alshon Jeffery had a great performance in the last meeting, grabbing eight receptions for 147 yards and one TD. Jay Cutler had a great game as well, adding 353 yards and a TD through the air. Matthew Stafford had a standout performance passing for Detroit, connecting on 27 of 42 pass attempts for 405 yards, four TDs and one interception. Calvin Johnson had a great game as well, adding 166 yards and a TD on six catches.
Chicago is a slim one-point favorite at home against the Lions. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently at 45 points.
Sitting at 6-9 Straight Up (SU) and 8-7 Against The Spread (ATS), the Bears will look to improve heading into Week 17. In their five most recent matchups, the Bears went 2-3 for both SU and ATS. Chicago will be up against a Lions run defense that ranks 28th in the league with 132.7 rushing yards allowed per road game. As for the Chicago defense, a few key matchups could decide this game. The Bears defense could cause a lot of problems for the Lions. The Bears have the second-best home pass defense in the NFL and give up 198.7 passing yards per game at home. Chicago will look to take advantage of the inability of the Lions to prevent scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing an average of 8.3 points. With the third-highest time of possession per game at 32:45, expect Chicago to control the clock this week.
Across the field, the Lions head into Week 17 with records of 6-9 for both ATS and SU. Over their last five games, the Lions have a SU and ATS record of 3-2. Detroit has made opposing defenses suffer as of late, averaging 29 points per game over the last five games. This improved stretch brought its season average to 22.3 PPG. Hopefully Chicago’s D-line and linebackers will be up for a challenge. They will face off against a formidable Lions running game, which has averaged 111.4 yards per game over their last five, more than their season average of 84.6. It shouldn’t be too hard for the Lions to start fast this week with Chicago’s defense allowing more points in the first quarter (6.9) than any other team in the league. When they play on the road, Detroit’s special teams excels. A league-best, the team averages 121.7 return yards per away game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Det, ATS Winner – Det, O/U – Under
Notes
Chicago is 6-14 SU in its last 20 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago’s last 5 games.
Chicago is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games at home.
Chicago is 6-18-1 ATS in its last 25 games at home.
Chicago is 3-7-1 ATS in its last 11 games when playing Detroit.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago’s last 6 games when playing Detroit.
Chicago is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Detroit.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago’s last 5 games when playing at home against Detroit.
Chicago is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Detroit.
Detroit is 5-3 SU when leading at the half this season. Chicago is 4-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Detroit is 3-4 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle this season, and 2-3 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Since the beginning of last season, Detroit is 7-4 SU against NFC North opponents, while Chicago is just 2-9 SU against division foes.
Chicago is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its 12th-ranked rushing attack will face the 19th-ranked run defense of Detroit, while its 27th-ranked run defense will look to contain the 31st-ranked rushing game of the Lions.
