The Bears will host the Lions Sunday at Soldier Field. Here are three things that should increase their chances of winning:
(1) Contain Detroit's running game.
The Bears hope to limit the Lions' explosive offense by playing stout run defense and putting quarterback Jared Goff in predictable passing situations. Detroit leads the league with an average of 32.8 points per game and ranks second in total yards, sixth rushing and second passing.
"They're very good running the football, very good on first and second down, and their rushing attack really keys the entire offense," said Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington. "It allows the quarterback to set up play action. They do an excellent job with that, so it's going to be critical for us.
"We did not defend the run extremely well the first time we played them on Thanksgiving, and we have to flip that around in favor of our defense. We have to make sure we can control the amount of plays we play and the amount of possessions that our offense is able to gain."
In a 23-20 loss in Detroit on Thanksgiving, the Bears held the Lions to their lowest point total in their last 11 games, but allowed 194 yards rushing, their second highest total of the season. The Lions feature one of the NFL's most productive backfield tandems in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but Montgomery will not play Sunday due to a knee injury he sustained in last Sunday's 48-42 loss to the Bills that snapped Detroit's 11-game winning streak.
The Bears defense hopes to pick up Sunday where it left off in the first meeting between the teams. In that game, the unit limited the Lions to seven points and a 20% success rate on third down (1-of-5) in the second half.
"In the second half of the game, I thought we limited their points," Washington said. "I thought we did a little bit better job of defending the run, being in the right positions for some of the play-action stuff and then getting off the field on third down. I thought our third down picked up in the second half."
(2) Convert on third down like they did in the second half in Detroit.
The Bears were successful on 7-of-10 third downs over the final two quarters in their first matchup with the Lions after going 0-of-5 in the first half. The marked improvement enabled the offense to sustain drives and score touchdowns on three of its first four possessions in the second half after being held off the scoreboard in the first half.
"We had the opportunity in the first half to convert on third down. We didn't," said interim head coach Thomas Brown. "Had a couple situations where there was a penalty on an early third down that was pretty well-designed as far as the setup to beat man coverage. I think we had pretty good efficiency on first and second down. It's more about being able to stay on the grass on third down."
The Bears will lean on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and a rushing attack that features running backs D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson, who is expected to return after missing the last two games with a concussion.
Williams has not been intercepted in his last eight games, the longest streak in Bears history and the longest by an NFL rookie since at least 1950. Since the second quarter of a Week 4 win over the Jaguars, he's thrown 12 touchdown passes and no interceptions. This season, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft has completed 61.9% of his passes for 2,937 yards with 17 TDs, five interceptions and an 87.7 passer rating.
The Bears will look to exploit a Lions defense that has been ravaged by injuries. Detroit has 19 defensive players on injured reserve, by far the most in the NFL. The Lions have produced only one takeaway in their last four games after producing 19 in their first 10 contests.
"They've got a great team," said Bears interim offensive coordinator Chris Beatty. "You're going to have to score points because they [lead the league in points], so you can't dig yourself a hole. We want to be aggressive, but at the same time put our guys in position to do what they do best … As a coaching part of it, we've got to make sure that we have our best stuff early, that the script is where it needs to be and we're putting these guys in a position to do all the things that they do fast."
(3) Force the Lions to kick field goals in the red zone.
The defense kept the Bears in the Thanksgiving game against the Lions by allowing just one touchdown on four red-zone possessions in the first half. The Bears forced Detroit to settle for two field goals—one after a Gervon Dexter Sr. third-down sack—and generated a takeaway when Tyrique Stevenson's big hit on Gibbs after a 13-yard reception resulted in a fumble at the 6-yard line that was recovered by Dexter.
"Probably the best thing we did is play good red-zone defense," said Bears safety Kevin Byard III. "It was like a bend-but-don't-break type deal. We haven't played good red-zone defense these past few games and that was kind of our calling card this entire year. We played really good red-zone defense, forcing field goals and stuff like that. We've got to get back to that if we want to have a shot to win this game."
Goff entered Week 16 ranked second in the NFL with a 110.4 passer rating, having completed 71.4% of his passes for 3,759 yards with 30 TDs and 10 interceptions. He leads the league with 127.0 passer rating on third down, having thrown for 889 yards with 10 TDs and no interceptions.
In last Sunday's loss to the Bills, Goff completed 38 of 59 passes for 494 yards with five TDs and no interceptions. In the process, he became the first NFL quarterback since at least 1950 to pass for at least 400 yards and five TDs with no interceptions in a loss.
