Detroit Lions (5-4 SU, 5-4 ATS) vs. Chicago Bears (3-6 SU, 5-4 ATS)
Week 11 NFL
Date/Time: Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 1PM EST
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
TV: Fox
By Loot, NFL Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: DET -3/CHI +3
Over/Under Total: 42.5
The Detroit Lions come to Soldier Field this Sunday for a week 11 NFC North matchup with the Chicago Bears. This is the first matchup this season between these divisional teams. Detroit won their second game in a row on Sunday with a 38-24 win over the Browns. The win took them to 5-4 as they now look to get on one of their big winning streaks after suffering four losses in five games. The Bears fell to the Packers at home on Sunday, 23-16. Coming off the bye week, they were looking for better at home against a Rodgers-less Packers team and after two straight losses, they look to get it right at home this week against the Lions.
With consecutive wins and now at 5-4, the Lions can start focusing on making a little run. They've been one of the streakiest teams in the league over the last several seasons, with groups of wins and losses coming in bunches. Now in winning form, they hope to get on another roll. In the past two weeks, we see the Detroit offense starting to come around, with Matthew Stafford really getting into good form. On Sunday against the Browns, things looked a bit dicey with Cleveland taking a 10-0 lead and leading 24-17 late in the third quarter. Matthew Stafford then threw three TD passes to close the game out, with Detroit winning by 14 and covering the spread.
Stafford really snapped into shape late in the game, hitting Golden Tate, Eric Ebron, and Theo Reddick on TD passes to lock up the win. The offense had a lot of big plays on the day, with Tate and Kenny Golladay catching long passes, with some nice runs by Ameer Abdullah and Reddick. We've seen more life from the run-game lately and while it's not a consistent or bankable part of their offense, awakening that part of their offense would be big. During their month-long funk, the offense was struggling looking for answers. And while one shouldn't place too much stock in wins over Green Bay and Cleveland, the offense has looked a lot better in the past two weeks.
The same applies to a Detroit defense that has been better the last several weeks, starting with their 20-15 loss to Pittsburgh. Against the Browns, they let an offense that hadn't been doing very well get untracked, but they tightened up when they needed to, allowing the Lions to come back and even get the cover. The secondary might not always be that stout, but they can sure make plays and did so again on Sunday, with Darius Slay picking off a pass, while Nevin Lawson recovered a fumble. Tavon Wilson also had a nice game in the back. Cornelius Washington had two sacks. Anthony Zettel and Lawson also got to the quarterback. In many ways, it was a typical performance for the Detroit defense—moments of leakiness spelled by clutch play and a knack for playmaking.
Sunday was a bad development for the Bears coming off the bye. Their defense continues to play pretty well, but they have been stymied on offense for the past several weeks. On Sunday, it was actually the aerial game that had most of the production, which was a role-reversal for a Chicago team that had been relying heavily on the run. Despite the game being close for most of the game, the Bears never seemed to look the winner in the game. The run-game didn't have a big impact, with the defense allowing a good game to Brett Hundley and even giving up some production to the Packers' run-game.
Mitchell Trubisky had his best passing game as a young pro on Sunday for Chicago, throwing for 297 yards and a TD with no picks. He connected well with Dontrelle Inman, while connecting with Josh Bellamy for a 46-yard TD pass. It was nice to see Trubisky connecting well with different receivers, as six different ball-catchers had at least 23 yards receiving. A little more out of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen in the backfield would have gone a long way, but they couldn't find it on Sunday with 55 total yards rushing for Chicago. Coming up with one touchdown and three field goals at home coming off the bye to this Green Bay defense certainly counts as a letdown.
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The Chicago defense wasn't all that bad on Sunday, but they didn't really do anything well, either. They gave up Hundley's best game of his career. They also secured no turnovers and basically allowed the Packers to get the most out of their production. And a Green Bay run-game that hadn't had much to celebrate this season was able to make headway against the Bears' defense with 160 yards rushing. It's a defense that has typically been stout or at least come up with some big plays to help the overall team cause and on Sunday, we didn't see much of that.
When looking at Detroit's last game, it looks routine enough, but without the late surge, they easily could have been the first team to lose to the Browns this season. In other words, while Chicago looks like a beatable team for them in this spot, Detroit is not all that bankable from week-to-week. In a divisional road game, one could see this one being a grinding struggle that comes down to the end. I just see Detroit having gotten their act together to some extent, with more playmaking on both sides of the ball. I see them getting the win and covering the spread on Sunday.
Loot's Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I'm betting on the Detroit Lions minus 3 points.Tired of your credit card not working for sportsbook deposit? End that problem today and bet the Lions vs. Bears by signing up at Bovada Sportsbook where your credit card WILL work and where you'll receive a generous 50% sign-up bonus!
