NFL Picks 12/10 – Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears

NFL Picks 12/10 – Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Detroit Lions (9-3) visit the Chicago Bears (4-8) on Sunday afternoon at venerable Soldier Field in a battle of long-time division rivals. Detroit is a 3-point favorite and the total is 43.5. Sunday is the second meeting between the NFC North rivals, Detroit rallied for a 31-26 win in Week 11 after scoring 17 unanswered points in the final two minutes of the game. Detroit held off New Orleans 33-28 last week in New Orleans as rookie tight end Sam LaPorta set season highs of 9 catches for 140 yards and added a touchdown. Chicago had a bye in Week 13 after picking up a last second 12-10 win at Minnesota in Week 12 on November 27. Detroit has won three straight meetings against Chicago.  

The game has an interesting side story as brothers Equanimeous St. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown will be on opposite sides of the field on Sunday. Both play wide receiver, Equanimeous is the older brother who plays for Chicago and Amon-Ra plays for Detroit. Their father John Brown, won Mr. Universe back-to-back times in 1981 and 1982, and set up vigorous training methods for his sons from the time they were very young.

GAME STORYLINES: DETROIT

Coming into the 2023 season, the Detroit Lions had been one of the worst run franchises in NFL history. They’ve won just 1 playoff game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Detroit’s last playoff appearance was in 2016,  their last division title was in 1993 when they competed in the NFC Central, and their last playoff win was in January 1992. Things have changed dramatically in 2023 as Detroit enters Sunday’s game with a 9-3 record, which is the franchise’s best start to a season since 1962. 

One of the biggest reasons for Detroit’s surprising season is the play of quarterback Jared Goff. Detroit acquired Goff in January 2021 as part of a trade package from the Los Angeles Rams for franchise stalwart quarterback Matt Stafford. The move was widely viewed as a chance for Stafford to get out of Detroit and achieve some team success for the first time in his career while Goff was an afterthought. And that’s what exactly happened as Stafford won the Super Bowl in his first season as a Ram, while Detroit finished 3-13-1 with Goff in 2021. Fast forward to today and the fate of both franchises may have switched places as Detroit is now tied for the second-best record in the NFC with Goff having one of the best seasons in his career, while Stafford and the Rams have been inconsistent and dealt with numerous injuries.

Jared Goff has thrown for 3,288 yards with 20 touchdowns to 8 interceptions in 2023. He has an outside shot of surpassing his career-high of 32 touchdowns which he set in 2018 with the Los Angeles Rams. Goff’s weapons on offense include star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (84 catches for 1,048 yards, 6 touchdowns), running back David Montgomery (704 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns) and a pair of outstanding rookies in running back Jahmyr Gibbs (626 rushing yards, 272 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns) and tight end Sam LaPorta (64 catches for 674 yards, 6 touchdowns). The 24-year-old St. Brown will set career-highs in yards and touchdowns in year three, he’s established himself as one of the top wideouts in the NFL. Gibbs (No. 12 overall) and LaPorta (No. 34 overall) were Detroit’s first two selections in April’s draft, and both have exceeded expectations as rookies. Third year offensive tackle Penei Sewell is one of the best pass blockers in the NFL.

Detroit’s defense has been up-and-down this season but they have several standouts in star defensive end Aiden Hutchinson (36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception), defensive tackle Alim McNeil (31 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble) and linebacker Alex Anzalone (87 tackles, 3 sacks). Hutchinson entered the NFL with enormous expectations after a standout career at Michigan resulted in Detroit selecting with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft. He’s now living up to those lofty expectations in his second season. McNeil went down with a knee injury in last week’s win at New Orleans and will miss the next 4 weeks at least, he could be out for the season. 

GAME STORYLINES: CHICAGO BEARS 

It seems as if the Chicago Bears have been desperately searching for a franchise quarterback since Jim McMahon departed more than three decades ago. The franchise has seen the likes of Jim Harbaugh, Erik Kramer, Rex Grossman, Shane Matthews, Jay Cutler, Kyle Orton and Mitch Trubisky show glimpses of being consistent, long-term starting quarterback but all of them ended up falling short. In April 2021, the Bears hoped their fortunes changed when they traded up to the No. 11 pick to select dynamic dual threat quarterback Justin Fields. 

Unfortunately, Fields first three NFL seasons have been filled with losses, accuracy issues, turnovers and injuries. He’s thrown for 36 touchdowns to 27 interceptions through 35 games in his NFL career. He has shown glimpses of greatness especially in his second season (2022) when he passed for 17 touchdowns and rushed for 1,153 yards with 8 rushing touchdowns. Expectations for Fields were high coming into this season but the Bears began the season 0-4 while Fields struggled. Fields then dislocated his right thumb in a Week 6 loss against the Minnesota Vikings, the injury kept him out for about a month. The Bears have gone 1-1 since Fields returned from the injury and his inconsistency has been on full display as he was terrific (169 pass yards, 104 rush yards) in a 31-26 loss to Detroit and then lost 2 fumbles in an uneven performance at Minnesota where the Bears were able to pull out an ugly 12-10 win. 

The future of Justin Fields has become a huge dilemma for the Bears as they will likely have two very high picks in a 2024 draft that has several highly-regarded quarterback prospects (Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels) who are expected to be game-changers at the NFL level. The Bears have a tough decision of deciding whether to keep Fields and draft an offensive lineman and wide receiver with their 2 first round picks or move on from Fields and rebuild with yet another first round college quarterback.

Wide receiver DJ Moore has been excellent in his first season with Chicago. Moore has 70 catches for 1,003 and 6 touchdowns on the season, he’s on pace to set career-highs in yards and touchdowns. The Bears acquired Moore from Carolina, he was part of the trade package in which the Bears also received Carolina’s 2024 first round pick in exchange for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. The trade appears to be the “Steal of the Century” for the Bears as Carolina now sits at 1-11 and 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young has struggled for the entire season. 

On October 31, the Bears made a significant move to bolster their defense when they traded a 2024 second-round pick to Washington for defensive end Montez Sweat, and then signed him to a 4-year, $105 million dollar contract extension four days later. Sweat was a former first round pick (No. 26) in the 2019 draft. He has 2.5 sacks in four games with Chicago.

THE PICK

Detroit is playoff bound while Chicago seems to be focused on who their quarterback and head coach will be next year, and what 2 players they’ll select in the first round of the 2024 draft, Lay the Points…Lions 38, Bears 24