Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears NFL Preview and Odds
The Detroit Lions will meet the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on Monday Night Football this week. The Lions at 2-3 need to win this game to stay close to the 4-1 Bears. The Lions are coming off a 26-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles which snapped a three game losing skid. A win here puts them back in the thick of the NFC North Division race.
History
The Bears have been on fire since losing to the Green Bay Packers in week two. They've won three in a row, all by lopsided scores. Their last win was a 41-3 spanking of the Jacksonville Jaguars. A win here for the Bears could put them two games up on the division if the Arizona Cardinals win over the Minnesota Vikings this week.
The Lions and Bears have met 164 times. The Bears hold a lead of 94-65-5 in the all time series. The first meeting was on October 22 of 1930, exactly 82 years to the day of this week's meeting, when the Lions were known as the Portsmouth Spartans. They beat the Bears 7-6 that day. In 1932, the Bears beat the Spartans 9-0 to claim the NFL Championship. It is the only post season meeting these two franchises have ever had with each other.
In November of 1934, the Bears won their first meeting as the Detroit Lions 19-16. Some of the other memorable games between the two teams include Thanksgiving Day of 1980 when the Bears beat the Lions 23-17 by returning the opening kickoff of overtime for a touchdown to win the shortest overtime game in NFL history.
Our Pick
Bet365 has the Lions at +6.5 20/23 or 11/5. They have the Bears -6.5 20/21 or 10/27. Over/under on the game is 47. We think the Lions will come in and put the ball up with Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. So look for a lot of big plays, some of which may be turned in by the Bears defense. We like the over on this one and we also like the Bears -6.5 at home.
