Detroit vs Chicago (DET -6.5 , 47.5)
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Detroit vs. Chicago | Sunday, December 22, 2024
The two teams on opposite ends of the NFC North will face off in Week 16, with Caleb Wiliams and the Chicago Bears hosting Jared Goff’s Detroit Lions.
Unfortunately for Detroit, a devastating run of injuries threatens to kill their momentum as we head towards the playoffs. Now despite their 12-2 record, there is concern over whether they’re going to be able to maintain their form while severely shorthanded.
In just the past few weeks the Lions have lost Alex Anzalone AND Malcolm Rodriguez at middle linebacker, the latter of which tore his ACL and is now out for the season, while Anzalone may be able to return at some point. Ifeatu Melifonwu and Ennis Rakestraw Jr have both been placed on IR at corner, Kalif Raymond has been on IR since late November, and of course Aiden Hutchinson has been out for most of the season since he fractured his tibia.
Now all of those injuries alone would be enough cause for concern, but the Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills decimated the roster even further. Corners Khalil Dorsey AND Carlton Davis both landed on IR with season ending injuries. Dorsey was carted off with a nasty lower leg injury, while the vet in Carlton Davis fractured his jaw, requiring surgery.
But we’re not done there. David Montgomery is now out for the season too, leaving Jahmyr Gibbs as just one half of the Sonic and Knuckles duo. But perhaps most importantly, defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who’s had a tremendous season, tore his ACL against the Bills, and his season is also done.
The list of injuries is endless for Detroit, and they’ll now have to hope they can wade their way through the final three games without losing anybody else.
Of course, there’s no time to let up, given the Minnesota Vikings are level with them on record and threatening to steal the division title away in the final moments of the regular season.
Detroit’s hosts this weekend, the Chicago Bears, have a lot to figure out. The defense has gotten a lot worse since the firing of former head coach Matt Eberflus, and Caleb Williams is getting outright frustrating to watch as the weeks go on.
His development has been slow to say the least, and he’s still making the same errors he was making early in the year. The number of sacks he’s taking is absurd, and while some of those certainly fall on the offensive line, many others have to be attributed to Williams trying to play hero ball like he’s facing an FCS opponent in college.
The Bears could throw a real spanner in the works with a win here, but even against a depleted Lions roster, their offense would need to be on the finest of form to keep up with Jared Goff and the Lions high powered set up.
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