The Chicago Bears host the Detroit Lions in a Week 16 matchup. They look to end the second-longest losing streak in franchise history, which stands at eight.
Well, the 2024 season is almost mercifully over. The Chicago Bears have just three games remaining. The first one is this weekend against the Detroit Lions. The Lions are coming off a disappointing loss against the Buffalo Bills and are fighting for the top seed (and a first-round bye) in the NFC. They will look to get back on track.
The Bears, meanwhile, are in the midst of an eight game losing streak. It is tied for the second-longest in franchise history. They are just trying to get to the end of the season with at least one victory. Once the season ends, the work begins on retooling the roster.
Things have completely fallen apart for the Chicago Bears. Early on in the losing streak they were competitive. The games usually came down to the final plays. The last couple of games, however, have been disasters. They lost by double digits and were never competitive against the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings.
Now let’s see if the Chicago Bears can get their act together enough to erase the losing streak and not have that around the team’s neck going into the 2025 season. The hope, while faint, is that it could happen this week. The Bears can play the role of spoilers by beating Detroit this week.
Let’s take a look at what to look for in this matchup between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.
Can the Chicago Bears get off to a quick start?
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One of the problems for the Bears is how slowly they start games. While most talk about the offense’s awful play in the first quarter, the defense has also started out slowly at times. The offense has too many three and outs, then the defense allows their opponents score easily.
The Chicago Bears offense averages a paltry 1.4 points per game in the first quarter. That ranks dead last in the NFL. They give up 5.2 points per game in the first quarter, which ranks fifth in the league. The matter has been worse in the last two weeks. In those games, the Bears scored a total of zero points in the first half.
The Bears dig themselves a hole early in games then struggle to stay in the game. They do pick it up in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter (they rank sixth in the league by scoring 7.9 points per game in the final quarter) but many times the hole is too big to dig out.
The Lions have a great offense. They can score on the ground or through the air. The scores can come in bunches. In the first matchup, the Chicago Bears found themselves down 16-0 in the first half. It could have been worse, as the defense made a few stops in the red zone, including forcing a turnover inside the five.
The Bears cannot afford to continue to fall behind early. They need to at least keep it close early or they will find themselves trying to handle a nine-game losing streak.
Defense needs to limit the big play
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While the defense has done a good job this season at limiting the opposition in the red zone, the unit still gives up way too many big plays (plays of 20+ yards). The Chicago Bears defense has given up 56 big plays this season.
It helps when a team is in the red zone, especially close to the end zone. The defense cannot give up big plays when the end zone is right behind it. However, when there is space, problems happen. The problem is not just with the pass. It is also with the run. Teams have been gashing the Chicago Bears defensive line. Also, without a pass rush, the secondary players can only cover for so long.
Injuries to the secondary and defensive line have decimated the defense. The Chicago Bears came into the 2024 season hoping to have one of the elite defenses in the league. Losing defensive tackle Andrew Billings and safety Jaquan Brisker for most of the season has really hurt. Additionally, other players have missed games here and there, putting more pressure on the defense.
The Lions have also been decimated by injuries. They basically have a Pro Bowl team on injured reserve. In their last game, they lost running back David Montgomery. Montgomery has an MCL injury and is out indefinitely. The Bears need to take advantage of that and pressure quarterback Jared Goff. Goff has a history of committing turnovers against the Chicago Bears.
The defense has to find a way to put pressure on him. They have sacked him 19 times, third among teams he has played against. Additionally, he has thrown 10 interceptions, second highest among his opponents. The Bears defense ranks seventh in turnovers caused so they need to force some in order to win.
Goff has been on a roll despite last week’s loss. He has spread the ball well. Even in that loss last week, Goff had 494 passing yards and 5 touchdowns. The Lions had five players with 4+ catches in the game. Even with that, Amon-Ra St. Brown still got his looks. He had 18 targets, catching 14 of them, amassing 193 receiving yards and a touchdown.
When Goff is on a roll the Lions are nearly unbeatable. He has plenty of weapons at his disposal and he uses all of them. The Chicago Bears cannot allow him to heat up or it will be another long day.
Williams needs to show that the losing and beating is not getting to him
© Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has had a rough season. The losing is grinding and he has been sacked 58 times for 402 yards, both of them most in the league. He has also taken some big hits that were not sacks. The last time these two teams played he took a big hit as he was running out of bounds.
Williams also took a couple of big hits against the Vikings last week. After one particularly crunching hit, he stayed in the game but after the drive the camera caught him wincing in pain and sitting sideways on the bench. He looked as defeated as a player could at that moment.
Williams has taken some criticism for the visual. Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho bashed Williams for the look.
Caleb, you not a damsel, you not in distress. We do not feel sorry for you. It is the National Football League. You’re going to get hit hard. You have to get up, you have to play the next play… Do not let anything with a heartbeat beat you and far too often we see with his No. 1 overall pick, what I still believe is generational talent, we are seeing things without a heartbeat like attitude, like toughness, like effort, like emotional maturation in the midst of war, the football game, beat him.
Of course, what Acho said was ridiculous. Williams has always shown his emotions on the field, good or bad. He took a beating on Monday night and throughout the season. Those hits are piling up and starting to take effect. While it is true that he has to show his toughness, being able to go out there and continue to take the beating is the right thing to do.
Williams could just pack it in and sit out the rest of the season. There is not much to play for except for statistics. He could sit and have Tyson Bagent get some snaps to help him.
Williams needs this experience, though. If he could play through this it will help in his development. It likely won’t get much worse than it is currently. This will be a learning experience and make him better.
As mentioned before, the Lions have been destroyed by injuries. Yes, they are still playing well. However, there is a lot of talent that is down. Williams needs to take advantage of that.
It looks as if the injuries are starting to take a toll on Detroit now as well. They have given up 79 points in their last two games. Williams needs to keep that going. He did a good job of burning the Lions in the second half of their first game. Of course, he got off slowly.
If Williams could get past the offensive line and make the right decisions he could help the Chicago Bears pull off an improbable upset. They could also ruin their NFC North rival’s playoff seeding.
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