Chicago Bears: 3 Keys to Beating the Detroit Lions

Here’s how the Chicago Bears can defeat the Detroit Lions in Week 4 of the NFL Season.

The Chicago Bears once again fell flat in Week 3, losing to the Dallas Cowboys 31-17. In the first two games, the Bears played pretty well in the first half, only to falter in the second half. However, the script was flipped against the Cowboys. A 24-3 deficit at halftime doomed the team. Even though the Bears “won” the second half 14-7, they still fell to 0-3 for the second-straight season.

The Bears continue to be hit hard with injuries and, despite quarterback Jay Cutler partaking in some practice reps this week, it appears that backup Brian Hoyer will once again get the call to start on Sunday.

The Lions, meanwhile, enter Week 4 missing two stars on defense (Ziggy Ansah and DeAndre Levy). The defense allowed Aaron Rodgers to pass for four touchdowns last week, so the Lions are definitely missing their two Pro Bowlers. What the team is not missing, however, is recently retired receiver Calvin Johnson. His replacement—free agent Marvin Jones—erupted for 205 yards last week, and leads the league with 408 receiving yards.

On paper, this game appears to give a slight edge to the Lions. However, the Bears do have a shot of winning (finally). Here are the three keys to making that happen.

1. Commit to the Run

This has been one of the keys to every game for the past few weeks, but the Bears aren’t doing it. The Bears lost starting running back Jeremy Langford to a high ankle sprain (out for 4-6 weeks) this past Sunday. Now rookie Jordan Howard finally gets his shot to make some noise.

Howard has flashed this season in limited time, including running for 45 yards on nine carries against the Cowboys (though 36 of those yards came on one play). He’s a big, physical back, and against a Lions’ defense that is allowing an NFL high 5.1 yards per carry, he has a great shot of doing some damage—if only he gets the ball enough!

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Now, I understand that it is hard to run the ball when you are trailing by double-digits. But even when games have been close, the Bears simply aren’t calling enough running plays. The Chicago defense is all banged up, so they must run the ball consistently to keep their defense on the sideline (the Bears have a league-worst 24:05 average time of possession per game).

2. Feed the Playmakers

I don’t think anyone will disagree that Alshon Jeffery is the Bears’ best offensive weapon. He has put up some good numbers this season, but it hasn’t been enough. When the Bears do throw, they need to be looking in Jeffery’s direction.

Kevin White also needs to heavily involved, though, especially early in the game. While Jeffery may be covered by Detroit’s promising young cornerback Darius Slay, White should have an advantageous matchup against either Quandre Diggs or Nevin Lawson. White had his most productive game to date in Week 3 and seems to have a better chemistry with Hoyer than he does with Cutler. White has talent and can be a true difference maker, and between him and Jeffery, they need to make some plays against Detroit’s 16th-ranked pass defense.

3. Don’t Let Matthew Stafford Beat Them

What Stafford did in the second half last week was pretty impressive. He is a true gunslinger who has torched the Bears secondary in the past. He has a boatload of weapons to work with this season and, so far, he’s been lights out.

With that being said, the Lions running game is very weak as starter Ameer Abdullah is on injured reserve and backup Theo Riddick is averaging a paltry 3.2 yards per carry this year. Rookie Dwayne Washington has flashed, but he’s a seventh-round pick and hasn’t seen a whole lot of action to date.

If the Bears have to drop eight defenders into coverage every play, so be it. They simply cannot let Stafford beat them as he did two times last year (and six times in the past three seasons).

Key Player Matchup

Chicago OLB Leonard Floyd vs. Detroit OT Taylor Decker

If the Bears do want to slow down Stafford, it would behoove them to get a good pass rush on Sunday. Floyd has taken on a much larger role with Lamarr Houston now on injured reserve (torn ACL), but the results have been mixed (a Pro Football Focus pass rush grade of 47.0). Decker, a fellow rookie, has been disastrous in pass protection (PFF grade of 43.1). So if there was ever a time for Floyd to have a breakout game, this is it.

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