Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It’s been a short, busy week, but we’ve got some morning football to kick off your Turkey Day and our staff of experts writers make our Bears vs Lions predictions. The 5-6 Chicago Bears, winners of two in the row, face off with the 7-4 Detroit Lions, losers of two straight.
This game features two teams apparently headed in opposite directions, but a closer look reveals that the Bears beat two bottom dwellers while the Lions lost to two of the top teams in the league. If you check out some of the Thanksgiving Game Fast Facts, you’ll see the Lions have struggled in the Thanksgiving game for the last decade. Are the Lions bound for another late-season collapse or can they stop the skid and keep their hopes for a division title and a playoff appearance.
In this special Thanksgiving edition of our Staff Picks, we’ve asked everyone to say what they’re thankful for and make their prediction. Let’s see what the, ahem, experts think:
Boomer (6-5)
So who nailed the Bucs prediction exactly right? This guy. Personally, I am thankful for an amazing wife and a couple of terrific kids. As the guy who runs this site, I am thankful for a fantastic staff of dedicated Bears fans who bust their butts every week to make this the best Chicago Bears site around! What am I thankful for about the Chicago Bears? That this hellish season of unfulfilled expectations is almost over. I’ll be more thankful come January if the Bears bring in a football guru to run the football operations.
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As far as the Bears vs Lions, I don’t see this going well for the Bears. The Lions have struggled to score, which is a huge surprise, but now that Calvin Johnson is getting healthy, the Lions offense should start to click. The Bears defense has key injuries at all levels and the offense is overmatched against the top ranked Lions scoring defense. The Lions cruise past the Bears and essentially knock them out of playoff contention.
Lions 31 – Bears 17
Mike Flannery (4-4)
There isn’t much to be thankful for when it comes to the Bears this season, but I guess it would be that they saved me money on my bar tabs in their blowout losses to Green Bay and New England since those games were over by halftime and I suffered through the 2nd halves on my couch for free.
As for this week’s game against Detroit, I am expecting a closer game than the 7 points Detroit is favored. Both offenses (and QBs) are struggling and both defenses are playing pretty well. I think ultimately the home field advantage gives the Lions the edge in a snoozer.