Even when the Chicago Bears new-look offense sputters, the menacing defense is there to pick up the pieces. It’s a recipe that has the Bears in first-place in the NFC North and looking like a possible contender to the more high-profile teams in the conference. Chicago maintained its lead with a win over Minnesota on Sunday night and now gets ready for a Thanksgiving Day showdown with Detroit, a team the Bears handled easily just two weeks ago.
Watch this Week 12 regular season matchup live on Thursday, November 22, 2018, at 12:30 p.m. ET at Ford Field.
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Chicago Bears OFF
Detroit Lions OFF
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Winners in six of their first nine games and sitting atop the NFC North, the Bears still had their doubters. After all they hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record in those games and that epic meltdown to Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins always seemed to come up. But playing on a national stage with first place in the division on the line, the Bears proved they are for real, just in case you didn’t believe it beforehand.
And what made the victory even sweeter was how the Bears did it. They dominated a Vikings team that most had pegged as a Super Bowl contender this season after signing Kirk Cousins to a big free agent deal. But it was Mitchell Trubisky who outplayed the multi-millionaire on the other side. Not that the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft had a spectacular day, because he didn’t, but Trubisky kept the Bears in line with a big edge in total yards and time of possession.
The Bears were able to move the football and amassed 308 yards against one of the better defenses in football. However, three drives were squelched by turnovers or things could have been much better. Trubisky threw for 165 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off twice. The ground game produced 148 yards with Jordan Howard leading the way with 63 while Trubisky chipped in with 43 and Tarik Cohen added 27.
It’s a short week for the Bears going from Sunday night to Thanksgiving Day, but the travel is much nicer after a win. And the Bears head to the Motor City having just handed the Lions a 34-22 defeat two weeks earlier in a game that wasn’t as close as the score. Trubisky had the second-best game of his career in that one, throwing for 355 yards and three touchdowns and he’ll dial it up again on Thursday.
The Bears take what the opponent gives them and the Lions gave them plenty of passing yards and points. Trubisky has developed into the player the Bears expected under Matt Nagy and the coach puts him in positions to be successful. While the numbers weren’t spectacular last week, they were in the first meeting against the Lions, and Nagy will devise a game plan that allows Trubisky an opportunity to have similar results, making him a player to watch for on the live betting lines.
Another player to keep an eye on is receiver Kenny Golladay, who had eight catches for 113 yards in Detroit’s win over Carolina on Sunday that snapped a three-game losing skid and kept the Lions faint playoff hopes alive. With Kerryon Johnson likely out after sustaining a knee injury and Marvin Jones Jr. still on the shelf, the bulk of the offense falls on Matthew Stafford and Golladay.
Don’t expect the Lions to run for many yards if Johnson isn’t playing. But you can look at Golladay to have some numbers as he’s become the de facto No. 1 option in the passing game. Take a flyer on his receptions and receiving yards on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu, and you can also look for a Lions turnover. Detroit ranks near the bottom with 14 giveaways while the Bears top the league with 16 interceptions and a plus-13 turnover margin.
Bears at Lions Live Betting
Chicago’s defense has performed at an elite level all season and the group made a statement Sunday night against the Vikings, harassing Cousins into a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. They sacked Stafford six times when the teams met a few weeks back with Khalil Mack getting a pair. Mack registered another one on Sunday and has three in two games since returning from an ankle injury and eight for the season. He’s such an impactful player you can’t ignore him on the field or on the live betting feature at BookMaker.eu.
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