Week 2 Staff Predictions – Bears at Lions

Have to say, the staff here at The Grey Manes are licking our wounds after none of us correctly predicted the Lions would look like hot trash and get handled by the Packers last week.  However, we are a glutton for punishment and are back again with more picks, and based on our predictions, we are all still chugging the blue Kool-Aid. 

While there were no “winners” in our predictions last week, first tiebreaker will be our Lions final cumulative score from our picks vs the Lions actual cumulative Pts scored.  With that said, I am pathetically the current king by ONLY missing the target by 8 points 😐

Mike Based on Week 1 there is absolutely no reason to pick the Lions to win in Week 2 vs the Bears. Looking at the stats the Bears look better on paper. However...  

This is a must win game for the Lions and it is the home opener and hopefully the Lions come out with some GRIT!! Caleb Williams is still erratic as much as he is pretty good. He can move in the pocket and make plays with his legs. The Receiving corps is solid (including the TE's).  

I feel like the Lions Defense who got behind early against the Pack can hold the Bears offense. I am expecting the Lions Offense to come out and play much better.  Long winded write up to say I am cautiously optimistic in a Lions win in a close one (where experience will win out.) 

Lions 24, Bears 21 

Brent 

The Detroit Lions played poorly in Green Bay last week.  The Chicago Bears played well early before falling flat late to lose at home against the Minnesota Vikings.  The Bears upgraded offensive line played better than last season where quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times.  At a rate of two per game through week one, he would be sacked less than half the times of the 2024 season.  The Lions failed to generate pressure on the Packers quarterback last week and if they don’t get pressure on Williams this week, it could be a high scoring game. 

As much as I wish it was Dan Campbell versus Ben Johnson (Campbell wins 220-0 in that matchup BTW), it is the uber talented Lions against the Bears.  However, if the Lions don’t shore up the interior of their offensive line, they may not be able to keep pace with a high-scoring (against our defense if we don’t get pressure) Bears team.  The players and Dan Campbell assured us all these two areas will be fixed this week.  I should be from Missouri, the “show me state” but instead am from the great state of Michigan.  With a rocking Ford Field, it’s the Lions  

Lions 38, Bears 24. 

Chris 

Last weekend's meltdown left us all questioning reality, but here's the thing about Dan Campbell teams: they don't stay broken for long. The real concern isn't the loss itself; it's how our rebuilt interior offensive line will handle Chicago's front seven when we need to establish the ground game. 

Surprise!  I think John Morton is going to get creative with his run concepts.  According to the fan base, he needs to keep his job! Forget the vanilla between-the-tackles stuff that got stuffed in Green Bay. We'll see more misdirection, reverses, and the kind of scheme creativity that made this offense elite in 2024. Meanwhile, Jared Goff needs a Plan B from Morton to bail us out if the rushing attack stalls again.  No more guys running routes in the same area, ok Johnny?! 

Chicago's second-half collapse against Minnesota tells you everything about their closing ability. When crunch time arrives, Campbell's squad has shown they can execute while the Bears have shown they can fold. Jake Bates connects on the game-winner because that's exactly the kind of story this season is writing for us. 

Lions 24, Bears 23 

Dan 

After last week, only two words came to mind:  Gut Punch. Expectations were high, but the Packers were the better team that day, and the Lions MUST improve. Great thing is, they have started slow before and have bounced back in both 2022 and 2023, so I still have faith. 

Last week the Bears managed to choke away a sloppy game against the Vikings, giving up 21 Fourth Quarter pts and letting JJ McFraud win his first game since the tainted Natty in 2024. Caleb Willaims somehow managed to have worse passing numbers than Jared Goff did against the Packers, despite not even throwing a pick. He had to rely a lot on his legs, leading the Bears in rushing with 58 yards, as Swift averaged a paltry 3.1 yards per carry against a good, but not great, Vikings front. Williams didn't look comfortable, constantly bailing out on the play before he could get through his progressions, despite only 3 pressures and two sacks from the Vikings.  However, the biggest issue for the Bears were the penalties, with Chicago flagged 13 times (12 accepted) costing them 127 total yards. The Offense had a rough time, committing Four False Starts, Three Offensive Holding Calls and an Intentional Grounding and Illegal Shift, setting them back 55 yards.  The Defense didn't fare much better, with two Pass Interference Calls, a Hands to the Face and Roughing the Passer mixed in for good measure handing the Vike 72 yards.

The Lions must be feeling good about their Defense bouncing back with Hutch and Davenport ready to focus on rushing Willaims, knowing that Reader, Williams, Anzalone and Campbell are backing them up to corral Swift or Wiliams when they run.  The entire back seven should also be able to handle the Kmet/Loveland TE threat and the Moore and Odunze WR combo, as they struggled to connect with Willaims against a Vikings defense that didn't put much pressure on Williams and only had 3 total Passes Defensed. Likewise, the offense should get the communication issues straightened out on the OL, and Glasgow will play better. The Lions running attack will fare better with Grady Jackson and TJ Edwards likely out or diminished, and the WRs and LaPorta should run wild against a banged-up Chicago defense, making for a better showing than in Lambeau.  The best matchup on the field might be a Sewell-on-Sewell battle, when Penei and his little brother Noah get together in the run game.  Worth the price of admission right there! 

Bottom line, I think the Lions will be refocused, accepting the mission at hand that they must punish Ben Johnson and curb-stomp the Bears and Caleb Williams along the way. Ford Field will be rocking and excited to cheer the team to victory, so I fully expect a massive turnaround for both the defense and the offense as they look to extinguish the noise around the new coordinators and reestablish themselves as one of the contending teams in the NFC. 

Lions 27, Bears 10