At least football fans won’t have to watch the Chicago Bears in primetime this week. After two dismal performances in front of a national television audience, maybe the Bears can get it right. A winless start isn’t quite what John Fox was expecting in the second year of his team rebuild, but he’s stuck with it. Winning a home game and beating the Detroit Lions might actually help his position. Chicago has lost six straight to the Lions and overall at Soldier Field and will try to snap those skids in Week 4.
This contest in Week 4 of the regular season will go down Sunday, October 2, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at Soldier Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Detroit Lions -3
Chicago Bears +3
Over/Under 46
Odds Analysis
As a 3-point road dog the Lions are getting plenty of early play with 80 percent of the bets in their favor. Not surprising considering the Bears have shown very little this season.
The total is manageable and with both sides missing significant pieces on defense the over is the trendy pick. There’s a good chance that number could spike by kickoff so getting in now could be a money maker.
Injury Report
Ezekiel Ansah – The Lions are expected to be without their star defensive lineman for another week due to a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 2. Ansah was the NFL’s third-leading sack man last season compiling 14.5 and his absence makes Bears’ quarterbacks pretty happy and lessens the pressure the Lions get on opposing signal-callers.
Jeremy Langford – Add the Bears’ leading rusher to the lengthy injury list. Langford is expected to miss several games after suffering a high ankle sprain against the Cowboys. The running game has lagged all season, but Langford was the featured back. With Ka’Deem Carey nursing a sore hamstring, the bulk of the carries will fall to rookie Jordan Howard.
Matchup to Watch
Playing against a battered Bears defense has been a dream come true for opposing offenses. Now, the Lions and their potent passing attack get a crack at Chicago. It would have been insane following the retirement of Calvin Johnson to think that Detroit could have the third-best pass offense in the NFL through three weeks. But that’s where the Lions are thanks to Matthew Stafford and the emergence of Marvin Jones as the No. 1 receiver. Jones played in the shadow of A.J. Green during his time in Cincinnati and when he became a free agent, the Lions were all over him looking to handle the lost production of Megatron.
And Jones has done just that. He’s clearly Stafford’s No. 1 option with a team-high 29 targets and he’s made the most of chances by hauling in 18 balls for a NFL-high 408 yards and a ridiculous 22.7 per catch average. The numbers were bolstered by a career outing Sunday when he caught six passes for 205 yards with touchdowns of 73 and 35 yards. The numbers were aided by Detroit’s comeback bid after falling behind 31-3, but impressive nonetheless. Jones will draw attention from defenders and that opens up the field for a group of talented pass-catchers. With Chicago down three players in its secondary and failing to generate any kind of pass rush, Stafford could be staring at another big afternoon.
Free ATS Pick
The Bears were picked apart by rookie quarterbacks the past two weeks and now they face one that has given them headaches throughout his career. Stafford threw for over 700 yards and seven touchdowns in two games against the Bears last season and now he’s directing the NFL’s third-ranked pass offense.
Chicago couldn’t slow down Carson Wentz and were mesmerized by Dak Prescott last week. It will take a herculean effort to stop Stafford and the Bears haven’t shown they’re capable of doing that. It doesn’t help that the defense Fox envisioned during training camp doesn’t resemble the group on the field due to a massive amount of injuries. Detroit is missing some key defenders as well and this one could turn into a shootout. My money has the Lions covering and the over cashing.
NFL Odds: Lions 34, Bears 29
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