Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions: 3 Must-know statistics before the game
No. 2: The two best games of Anthony Miller’s career have come vs. Detroit
Over the offseason, Allen Robinson fans like myself have mentally juggled three questions: (1) what if … the Chicago Bears did the right thing and paid him? (2) How differently would the average fan view him if he had consistently competent quarterback play? And (3): How much would his game open up with a reliable No. 2 receiver opposite him, taking advantage of his double teams.
Just about any time the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears lock horns, two of those questions get answered with an exclamation. We’ve already discussed Trubisky’s success against Detroit but dovetailed along with that, we see a significant jump in Anthony Miller’s play. Just for giggles, here’s a look at his last four games against the Lions.
— 9 catches, 140 yards, 0 TD
— 1 catch, 7 yards, 0 TD
— 3 catches, 41 yards, 0 TD
— 5 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD
From Weeks 11-17, Anthony Miller played 75% of his snaps from the slot. He ranked:
— PFF CHI Bears (@PFF_Bears) July 27, 2020
1st in slot receptions (29)
3rd in slot targets (40)
5th in slot yards per route run (1.94)
In Fantasy Football terminology, Miller would have a whole lot of “boom” in comparison to bust, looking ahead to this week. For his career, the former second-rounder has produced three 100-yard outings, two of which coming against Detroit’s secondary. You likely remember how clutch he was, destroying the Justin Coleman and the Lions with “7 routes” in the deep corners.
It falls in line with what we observed through Trubisky. The Lions ran more man coverage than any team in the NFL, a whopping 336 snaps. And given how young the Lions’ secondary is, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.
This year will be a transition for Miller; he found tons of success in the slot over the back half of the season, including a five-week stretch from Week 10 to Week 14 in which he averaged 86.2 yards per game on 6.6 catches per.
Over that same stretch, Robinson averaged 6.0 catches and 81.0 yards per game with four touchdowns. It comes as no surprise that the Bears went 3-2 over that stretch. In Year 3, it’s time for Miller to match Robinson’s fly from the jump.