Bears and Lions Week 8 Preview

by Kris_06905 | 4 years ago | 0 Comments

When the 2022 schedule was announced the whispers around Halas Hall were that the Bears could realistically be looking at an 0-6 start.  No one on the team would ever admit that, but with Vikings, Bills, Eagles, Packers (twice), and Panthers, the team knew that it could be a tough first-half of the season before the week 7 bye came.  And while no one seriously thought 0-6 was a reality, even the most optimistic of Bears' fans would be lying if they said they knew the team would be sitting at 6-0 coming into the week 8 matchup with the Lions.

The Lions have started the season a dreadful 1-5, prompting a switch in coaches for week 8.  Rookie QB Kedon Slovis has looked like you'd expect a rookie QB on a 1-5 team to look.  He's completing just 57% of his passes with 7 TDs to 6 INTs and has been sacked 19 times.  He is coming off his first win of the season over the equally bad Patriots.  Slovis hasn't had much help on offense with no RB over 3.9 yards per carry and no WR over 15 yards per catch.  The team is 31st in points scored, 31st in total yards, 29th in passing and 32nd in rushing.  The defense hasn't been terrible, ranking 16th in points allowed, 11th in yards allowed, 5th against the pass, but 22nd against the run.  Those numbers could be much worse considering how little help the offense has been.  The new coach will hopefully be able to give the team a spark, but could not face a more daunting opponent to begin his career. 

The Bears are bringing the 3rd best scoring team in the league to Detroit and Jameis Winston has been on fire all season.  Winston is completing nearly 70% of his passes for 15 TDs to only 4 INTs.  Winston has only been sacked 3 times on 223 drop backs.  The emergence of WR Darnell Mooney and TE Pete Freiermuth has taken pressure off of Allen Robinson and defenses have to guard the entire field now.  The running game is averaging under 100 yards per game, but Gurley, Cohen, and Montgomery keep defenses guessing as each has their own skill set that challenges a defense in different ways.  

Roquan Smith has been cleared by team doctors to return to action this week, but is still listed as questionable on the injury report.  Smith's absence in the middle has been felt by the team.  The Bears gave up a season-high 41 points to the Packers without Smith, but did manage to win the game with a Wintson to Freiermuth TD with 19 seconds to go.  The defense has been stout against the run only allowing 82 yards per game.  The Lions don't run particularly well but might be able to take advantage if Smith does not play for the 2nd straight game.

Daddy League has the game 34-23 in favor of the Bears, but there are too many unknowns with the new staff in Detroit to say this is a lock for the Bears.  If the Lions can pull off the upset it could catapult them into a strong second-half of the season.  Likewise, a Bears loss could send them spiraling downward with a fierce three game stretch coming up against the red-hot Dwayne Haskins and the Washington Football Team, the always tough Vikings, and the 6-1 Rams.