Detroit Lions Week 13 NFL Preview Against Chicago Bears

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Previewing Detroit Lions Week 13 NFL contest against Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving.

Transcript

00:00When you look at the Bears, just as a matchup, it just seems like when you look at their lineup,

00:04when you look at their roster, you got Swift, Allen, Moore. You have offensive weapons,

00:10probably the offensive line's not as good as it needs to be to be proficient and win games.

00:14But you look at the defense, there's talent there. Obviously, a defensive back in Johnson

00:18everybody raves about. And you realize, okay, there's some solid talent on this football team.

00:25And you kind of have to, when you start to preview a game like this, you got to look at

00:31Ibraflux and the coaching staff and say, man, you know, you've already blown out your offensive

00:35coordinator. Special teams have kind of struggled as of late, you know, having a kick block that

00:40cost you. So to me, I just think that the Lions are going to clearly have the coaching advantage.

00:45They're going to out scheme the Bears. But this is one of those deals where, you know,

00:49in a game like this, it's just tough because it is kind of a battle of mental attrition.

00:54Who makes the fewest mistakes? Who kind of prepares better? Because it's not going to

00:58be a lot of physical practices over the next three days beforehand. It's just a lot of mental work,

01:03recovery, and who's going to play their best. It might not be the best game,

01:07but I look at it from the perspective of the Lions. When you have an offensive line,

01:12it might be one of those deals where you pound the rock and you take a couple calculated risks,

01:18count on some of the young guys and maybe a couple unsung heroes like a Brock Wright

01:22or a Tim Patrick also who aren't the featured targets might also have an opportunity. Maybe

01:29like you said, maybe even a Donovan Peoples-Jones gets called up and gets some targets, but

01:34we'll see. Thanksgiving games, short notice is usually a battle of attrition, but I'm not really,

01:41you know, from the perspective of how much do I think that the Bears can come in and just blow

01:47out the Lions or make it very difficult. I don't think so. I just think that the Lions just may,

01:53you know, suffer from just one of those deals where a couple of unforced errors that maybe

01:57pop up that you don't expect. It's just one of those deals where it might not be the cleanest

02:02game that is going to be out there. But I do think that in a battle of mental attrition,

02:07I think the Lions might have a small edge. So while many people might think that, you know,

02:12the Lions being a heavy favorite right now lends to a heavier victory. I just think maybe one of

02:18those deals where you get to you get a 27 2017 victory where it's a little bit closer where the

02:23Lions are kind of just ahead the most of the game while the Bears kind of chip away, but I just don't

02:27view other than maybe Caleb Williams getting super excited and having an opportunity to make plays.

02:34I just don't see the Bears, you know, making it too difficult for the Lions, but I could also see,

02:40you know, at the end of the day, maybe the Bears making one or two plays late that ends up

02:45allowing them to get the victory. How do you view this going on? And just looking at the matchup,

02:49what concerns you? How do you see this game shaken out? You know, I think that this is one of those

02:54prime opportunities for Caleb Williams that I wouldn't be surprised if they come out just

02:59guns a blazing. He's got the weapons like I think that this you're not going to play for. Yeah,

03:05exactly. Your number one overall pick with all these guys around him on national television

03:10it's a holiday like I wouldn't be surprised if they come out hot, but I still think the only

03:14way the Lions lose this game is if they sleepwalk to halftime and it's a game at halftime. Then,

03:21you know, obviously you got the young quarterback with some confidence against the team

03:24that has a way better record than you. You're viewed as the heavy underdogs. Last time I

03:28checked it was double digits and, you know, now all of a sudden you're motivated going into halftime

03:33and it becomes a game. But if the Lions start fast and they really don't even have to score

03:37on that first drive, you just got to build a lead by halftime and then in the third quarter,

03:41you can do what you normally do, which is wear teams down with the run game and then hit the

03:46big plates. Then the Lions win in their traditional patented formula, right? But if you make this a

03:51game at halftime and you sleepwalk and maybe there's a turnover, you give up a couple of

03:56explosives on defense that you don't normally give up, or you start giving up touchdowns in

04:00the red zone like the defense hasn't done for the last couple of weeks, like that to me is when this

04:05starts to get a little bit unnerving because then you allow them to build confidence. They haven't

04:10won a game in a while. They just lost one that they were really, it felt like they should win

04:14against Minnesota on Sunday with the way they positioned themselves at the end of that game.

04:19So yeah, I mean, like I said, if they sleepwalk, the Lions don't come out hot and the Bears win

04:25with toughness and physicality early on, then this becomes a game. But if the Lions do what

04:29they normally do and they get up for this one, they should win comfortably like they have against

04:35teams they've been heavily favored over earlier in the year.

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