NME wrote:
This should be a loss. Like the Vikings, the Lions are a well rounded team that not only has playmakers and AP level talent spread out over the team, but theyre really well coached.
Defensively the Bears may be forced to play straight up and let the Lions come to them -something Eberflus kind of builds into his scheme anyway. The problem with this approach against the Lions is that they really aren't weak anywhere on that offense. The can run, they can pass, they can block, and worst of all they can scheme.. thats a problem. And while the Bears are strong in the red zone on defense (which has helped in the past couple of games).. the Lions offense is in the top 5 amongst red zone offenses so.. something has got to give. And this is where scheming will come into play. Expect Johnson to dig into the Bears with some creative play calling down low that exposes openings.
On offense, the Bears are showing week to week improvement under Brown who has simplified the scheme and relied mostly on taking what the defense gives him. This has served Caleb pretty well as it has allowed him to get the ball out of his hands quicker and has helped establish better rhythm in the pass game, and easier short 3rd down conversions. And while the Lions defense is stout overall there are two things that could work in the Bears favor on offense in this game against that defense. 1st, the Lions actually give up yards in the pass game where theyre ranked around 27th. 2nd, the Bears are actually ranked in the top-10 in the NFL in regards to red-zone offense at #9, this makes for some interesting possibilities. Now its not all sunshine here as the Lions do have a top-5 red zone defense.. but the Lions pass ranking suggests the Bears may get a enough opportunities down there to make things interesting. So, can Brown show some creativity as a play caller down there to put up points? Theres no shortage of talent at the skill positions for the Bears to see this happen. This could be a great opportunity for a guy like Brown evaluation wise to show something.
In the end, this is a really short week game. And in games like this its often coaching that ends up making the difference -and I think its safe to say the Lions hold a pretty evident advantage there. Couple that with a roster that overall boasts more talent than the one the Bears will be trotting out and I just think its too much of a mountain to climb.
Lions should take this. Question is, can the Bears turn this into a war or will they eventually see their lines overrun turning this into a chaotic steamrolling?
Lions will dominate the Bears front seven, a total mismatch between the Lions interior and the Bears DT's and Sewell will shut Sweat down which will kill any hope of the Bears getting pressure with the front four, and will allow the Lions to bludgeon the Bears in the run game.
It will be interesting to see if Eberflus starts Sanborn, or goes with Gordon and stays in nickle all game long, if that is the case you will see a steady diet of Montgomery early. The Bears really cannot run blitz because you do not have to double either DT which makes it easy to clog up the A gap and prevents them from sending a LB, you see this tell often because they always drop back when the give the mug look, Eberflus knows that even though Edmunds is a tall LB, he is not a physical guy when taking on blocks, and is easily erased in the run game. This is one of the real flaws in the Eberflus/Poles evaluation process where they value taller guys, it works for some positions, but your MLB still needs to take on blocks and fill gaps, you are paying Edmunds a ton of money to drop back and play zone, he does not have the instincts or speed to close like Urlacher did, so you are wasting a ton of money at that position. Y
Agree that this is a good litmus test for the Bears offense as they should be able to move the ball, but will have to score thirty plus points to make up for the defense and that is highly unlikely.
Likely will be another sad Sunday where an overmatched Eberflus gets trucked by a superior coaching staff and the Bears defense struggles to get off the field.
The news HC will instantly be in evaluation mode, so you likely will see more snaps for guys like Booker and Pickens, not sure what they do with Pickens, he looks like a wasted draft pick right now, got stood up and shoved around all game long against the Vikes. The Bears DE's got bitch slapped around in the run game last week, even Sweat was getting shoved around and he will be playing against an even bigger and nastier guy this week.
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