The upstart Lions come into this game at 4-0, and while they haven’t looked as impressive as the Packers in getting here, they did show resolve last week in coming from over 20 points down on the road against the Cowboys.  The Bears enter the game at 2-2, having lost both the road games they’ve played so far this year.  In 2010, the Bears swept the Lions; look for that streak to stop right here.  Divisional rivalry games like this are usually close and can go either direction, but the Lions are just too explosive for the Bears to contain.

Detroit is led by Matthew Stafford, who has is in the middle of the healthiest stretch of his career so far, which is pretty sad when you think about it.  Nonetheless, Stafford has been nothing short of awesome, as he has not yet had less than two touchdowns in any game this year and is averaging over 300 yards per contest.  Look for more of the same here, as the Bears have not had any luck containing quarterbacks this year, as both Drew Brees and Cam Newton hung three touchdowns each on them. 

Of course, if Stafford is going to throw at least two touchdowns, it’s a good bet that two touchdowns will be caught by Calvin Johnson, which has been the story this year.  Megatron has 8 TD catches already, which is a pace for 32 on the season.  Johnson likely won’t catch two scores per game all year; but who’s going to bet against the streak stopping here?

The Lions’ running attack hasn’t been that impressive this year, as Jahvid Best hasn’t looked like nearly the same explosive player he showed to start off last season.  The Bears are better at stopping the run than the pass, so don’t look for Best’s rushing numbers to improve too much in this game.
For the Bears, Jay Cutler’s lack of receiving weapons finally caught up to him last week, as he barely got over 100 yards passing.  Fortunately for him, Matt Forte had over 200 yards rushing, so Cutler really didn’t have to do much.  In this game, however, the Lions will likely jump out in front, so Cutler will have to go to the air and try to make use of his hodgepodge receiving corps of Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, and Roy Williams.

While Cutler has struggled most of the year, Matt Forte has been pretty golden.  His yardage was contained mostly in the passing game until last week, when he exploded for 205 rushing yards.  That probably won’t happen this week against the Lions, but Forte should get plenty of work in the passing game as Cutler will be forced to air it out.

Good Start:  QB Matthew Stafford, WR Calvin Johnson, TE Brandon Pettigrew, RB Matt Forte
Middle of the Road:  WR Titus Young, RB Jahvid Best, WR Johnny Knox
Bad Start:  WR Nate Burleson, QB Jay Cutler, WR Roy Williams, WR Devin Hester, WR Dane Sanzenbacher

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