Lions, Bears Meet Again After Detroit’s Wild Rally For Win 3 Weeks Ago

DETROIT (9-3) at CHICAGO (4-8)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX.

OPENING LINE: Lions by 4½, in keeping with FanDuel Sportsbook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Lions 8-4; Bears 5-6-1.

SERIES RECORD: Bears lead 104-78-5.

LAST MEETING: Lions beat Bears 31-26 on Nov. 19 in Detroit.

LAST WEEK: Lions beat Saints 33-28; Bears had bye, beat Vikings 12-10 on Nov. 27.

LIONS OFFENSE: OVERALL (2), RUSH (4), PASS (4), SCORING (T-5).

LIONS DEFENSE: OVERALL (14), RUSH (T-5), PASS (21), SCORING (23).

BEARS OFFENSE: OVERALL (20), RUSH (3), PASS (25), SCORING (21).

BEARS DEFENSE: OVERALL (11), RUSH (T-1), PASS (25), SCORING (T-27).

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Lions minus-3; Bears minus-4.

LIONS PLAYER TO WATCH: Sam LaPorta. The rookie is the NFL’s first tight finish with 60-plus catches, 600 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns within the first 12 video games of his profession. Five WRs did it: Justin Jefferson, Michael Thomas, Odell Beckham Jr., Marques Colston and Anquan Boldin. LaPorta is the primary rookie TE with 140 yards receiving and a TD in a sport since Pete Mitchell for Jacksonville in 1995. It’s been achieved six instances by a rookie TE, beginning with Bears nice Mike Ditka in 1961.

BEARS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Justin Fields. The closing 5 video games might go a great distance towards figuring out Fields’ future with selections looming for the Bears on his fifth-year choice for the 2025 season and whether or not to draft a quarterback subsequent spring. Chicago has two first-round picks — its personal and Carolina’s. Fields returned from a four-game absence due to a dislocated proper thumb at Detroit in Week 11 and helped put the Bears in place to win earlier than they blew a 12-point lead within the closing 2:59. He was exhibiting progress as a passer previous to the harm. In the win over the Vikings, Fields bounced again from two fourth-quarter fumbles to guide the successful field-goal drive.

KEY MATCHUP: Detroit’s run sport towards Chicago’s run protection. The Lions had 115 yards speeding towards the Bears in Week 11, with David Montgomery doing a lot of the harm towards the group that allowed him to go away as a free agent. The former Bear ran for 76 yards on 12 makes an attempt and a go-ahead landing within the closing minute.

KEY INJURIES: Detroit DT Alim McNeill went on IR with a knee harm on Tuesday. … C Frank Ragnow left final week’s sport with a knee harm after being listed with again and toe illnesses this season. … LB Alex Anzalone was cleared to apply Wednesday after lacking a sport with a hand harm. … Malcolm Rodriguez, who performs LB, FB and on particular groups, has an ankle harm. … The Bears have all their key gamers wholesome.

SERIES NOTES: Detroit has gained three straight towards Chicago after dropping seven of eight. In Week 11, the Lions scored 17 factors within the closing 2:59.

STATS AND STUFF: The Lions are 9-3 for the primary time since 1962, after they gained 11 of their first 13 video games. … Detroit has clinched a successful file in two straight years for the primary time because the 2016 and 2017 seasons. … The Lions are averaging 400 yards and path solely the league-leading Miami Dolphins. They are the one groups that rank among the many prime 5 in passing and speeding. … Detroit has had at the least 325 yards in a single-season, team-record 12 straight video games — doubling the second-longest energetic streak within the NFL. … The Lions lead the league with 64 performs which have gained at the least 20 yards. … WR Amon-Ra St. Brown has 40-plus yards receiving in 22 straight video games, eight greater than the next-longest energetic streak within the NFL. … Rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs has joined Najee Harris, Saquon Barkley, Marcus Allen and Joe Cribbs as the one gamers in league historical past to run for 600 yards and 5 TDs and catch 40-plus catches by means of the primary 10 video games of a profession. … Bruce Irvin, a 36-year-old edge rusher, had a sack in his Lions debut final week. … DE Aidan Hutchinson has just one sack in seven video games since getting 4 1/2 sacks over the primary 5 video games. … The Bears are attempting to win back-to-back video games for the primary time since beating Seattle and the New York Giants in Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2021 season. … Chicago stopped a 12-game shedding streak towards division opponents with the win at Minnesota. … The Bears have misplaced 9 in a row following byes since a Week 9 win at Green Bay in 2013. … Fields (1,963) has an opportunity to hitch Bobby Douglass (2,470) as the one Bears quarterbacks with 2,000 yards speeding. … WR DJ Moore had a career-high 11 catches for 114 yards within the win towards Minnesota, giving him 1,003 yards. It’s his fourth 1,000-yard season. He additionally had seven catches for 96 yards towards Detroit three weeks in the past. … DE Montez Sweat has a career-high-tying 9 sacks — 2 1/2 in 4 video games since a commerce from Washington. … CB Jaylon Johnson has a personal-best three interceptions this season.

FANTASY TIP: Montgomery, who performed his first 4 seasons in Chicago, might need just a little additional motivation in his return to Soldier Field.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)