The Bears (2-3) take a two-game winning streak into the Motor City to face a longtime NFC North rival, the Detroit Lions (0-5). Here is a breakdown of Chicago's Week 6 opponent:
What's new: For the longest time, Detroit's run defense used to be one of the NFL's most-feared units. In 2014, the Lions allowed 69.3 rushing yards per game, the fewest in the league. Then during the offseason, the team lost defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley in free agency, and the run defense has struggled since. In the first five weeks of 2015, opponents are rushing for 126.6 yards per game, which ranks 27th in the NFL. Detroit has run for just two touchdowns this season, while their opponents have run for eight.
What's old: Matthew Stafford is just 27, but the Lions quarterback may be seen as old news around Detroit. After throwing for 188 yards and three interceptions in Week 5, he was removed from the team's loss to Arizona in the third quarter, in favor of Dan Orlovsky. Stafford has struggled all season long, throwing six touchdowns to eight picks on the year. Turnovers aren't his only problem; Stafford has also struggled to move the ball downfield. Stafford is averaging 6.2 yards per pass attempt, the lowest in any of the six professional seasons where the quarterback has played more than three games.
Last time out: Detroit scored the first touchdown in its Week 5 game versus Arizona, and that's about as close as the Lions would come to winning. The Cardinals reeled off the game's next 35 points and won going away, 42-17. Arizona scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives in the second quarter and then put it on cruise control. Both Stafford and Orlovsky threw for more than 185 yards in the defeat for Detroit.
Series history: The series between the Bears and Lions is the second-most played in NFL history, trailing only Chicago's series against Green Bay. There have been 170 previous games with Detroit, with the Bears holding a 96-69-5 edge, dating back to the first meeting in 1930. The Lions won both games last season, and have won three of the last four against Chicago at Ford Field.
Injury report: Like many teams in the NFL right now, the Lions are beat up. Linebacker DeAndre Levy is dealing with a sore hip, running back Joique Bell has an injured ankle and tight end Brandon Pettigrew is dealing with a hamstring that isn't at 100 percent. Additionally, nose tackle Haloti Ngata and tight end Eric Ebron each missed the game against Arizona because of injuries, and their status for Sunday's contest against the Bears is unknown.
Schemes and tendencies: The Lions have some of the league's top pass catchers. Wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate are both premier playmakers with the ball in their hands, and the organization drafted Ebron in the first round of the 2014 Draft to bring that same type of skills to the tight end position. With that set of skill players, it is no surprise that the Lions are almost always aligned with one tight end, three wide receivers and one running back. Detroit has run 220 plays this season in the 1-TE, 3-WR formation, which is more than 67 percent of the team's offensive plays. The formation hasn't been too beneficial, as the Lions average 4.9 yard per play – regardless of who is on the field – which ranks 29th in the league.
Did you know?: The Lions are the last team in the NFL without a win, but this shouldn't feel too strange to folks from Detroit. According to Football Geography, this is the eighth season since 1930 that the Lions have been the league's final remaining winless team. That is the most of any franchise in the NFL, narrowly edging out four other clubs who had seven seasons each. Detroit was the final winless team in 2008, when they never wound up earning a victory and finished 0-16.
