The Detroit Lions are a good football team and are significant favorites over the Chicago Bears. There are reasons to be excited about the Bears and the performances in recent weeks, and even though they are sitting at 3-7 there is plenty of development to be watched.
Some of the best players on the Bears will be put to the test on Thursday. Who has the toughest matchups?
5. The Chicago Bears rookie tackle gets another tough matchup
Darnell Wright has had a solid season. He cannot hide from the fact that he has his losses and sacks allowed, but one thing he can say is that he has not missed a game yet, and when he does have struggles, they come against some of the best rushers in the NFL.
He has faced guys such as Rashan Gary, Chris Jones, Shaq Barrett, Montez Sweat, Danielle Hunter, Maxx Crosby, Cameron Jordan, and Joey Bosa. So, you are going to lose a time or two in your rookie season against those names.
Add another one to the list when Detroit is on the schedule. Aidan Hutchinson does his primary rushing against right tackles. Hutchinson is everything for the Lions pass rush. He has 52 pressures on the season, while John Cominsky is down at 23, the next closest. He leads the lineman in stops, per PFF, as well.
However, his last sack came in week five. In recent weeks, he has faced Trey Pipkins, Jermain Elumenor, Morgan Moses, and Luke Goedece, so this matchup will be one of the toughest that Hutchinson has had in recent weeks as well.
If the Chicago Bears can neutralize Hutchinson, they have a good shot at winning this game. This will be tough for Darnell Wright, but he has faced tougher this year. How does Wright handle himself in this matchup?
4. The Chicago Bears will see what Kyler Gordon is made of against the Detroit Lions
Kyler Gordon has been great since his he returned from a broken hand suffered in week one. He returned in week six and has primarily played the slot, which has helped his game immensely.
He has seen a lot of snaps against Keenan Allen and Adam Thielen and was not exposed. On Sunday, he gets another test in Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown plays the slot 52.1% of the time. Allen, Thielen, and St. Brown all rank in the top five in yards out of the slot.
The Bears may try to move Jaylon Johnson into the slot on obvious pass downs, but Gordon is too good in the slot as a run defender to spend early downs on that look. It will match these two up.
It is good that spending time in the slot means more time in zone, as routes are crossing you a lot more. So, Gordon is not always in man against St. Brown, but rather we will need to see him jump some routes and break passes up as they are coming his way.
Gordon has a chance to completely reverse his narrative after his rookie year if he puts together another good game and St. Brown is held in check out of the slot.
3. The Chicago Bears are throwing Montez Sweat into the fire to close the season
The Chicago Bears acquired Montez Sweat because they needed a pass rush. Now, they are asking a lot out of him after just acquiring him. In the first game, they added him he faced off with Ryan Ramcyzk, a right tackle with a long track record of being one of the best in the NFL. He had a quick turnaround after being traded midweek. Within nine days of the trade, he played two games, and the second game was against Taylor Moton, another talented tackle.
Now, he has some extra time off to get accustomed to the defense, and he survived the whirlwind after the trade. Still, he somehow gets a right tackle that is even better than the two he faced out of the gates in Penei Sewell.
Sewell has ascended to the point where many would call him the best right tackle in the game. Either way, Sweat is getting three of the ten best at their position to start their career.
One of the big reasons the team added Sweat was to take attention away from others. However, with Sewell, the team will leave him on an island, even against Montez Sweat.
If Sweat makes them pay for that, it would be huge. Either way, it will be fun to watch his progression against one of the best.
2 and 1. Jaquan Brisker and T.J. Edwards will be tested in coverage
The Chicago Bears have consistently been one of the worst teams in the NFL at covering tight ends and running backs. Guys like Austin Ekler and Aaron Jones rip them up, but even Foster Moreau and Antonio Gibson have had some big catches.
A lot of this comes down to issues from TJ Edwards and Jaquan Brisker. Edwards has been good at running downhill at the running back and quarterback, but he has had issues in coverage, and they signed him because he was good at defending running backs with the Eagles.
However, this year, he leads linebackers in yards allowed, mostly from leading the league in yards allowed after the catch. Brisker has been targeted a lot more often in recent weeks. Since week five, he is ninth in yards allowed amongst safeties.
This is not good because the Lions' second and third pass catchers are their running back and tight end. Sam LaPorta ranks fourth in targets and catches and ranks in yards amongst tight ends. This is impressive as a rookie. Jahmyr Gibbs is in the top five in catches for running backs as well. In his last three games, he has 130 of his 200 receiving yards, and he is second in targets since week seven.
Is this another big week for Gibbs in the easiest matchup of his season? Can the Chicago Bears do anything to slow down the two rookie pass catchers?