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Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears: Week 10 Inside the numbers

After defeating the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions will face off against another division foe in the Chicago Bears. Despite their 3-6 record, the Bears should provide a strong challenge as they have looked much better offensively as of late. They have put up 33, 29, and 32 in their last three games respectively. Defensively, they have not been that hot after trading away Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith. In their past two games, they gave up 49 points to a struggling Cowboys offense and 35 to Miami. Here are the numbers for the specific units in the Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears Week 10 matchup.

Week 10 Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears

Inside the Numbers for the Week 10 Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears matchup

Lions’ 14th pass offense vs. Bears’ 30th pass defense

The Bears’ have one of the worst pass defenses in the league. They have only given up 200 yards per game, but they are giving up 7.2 yards per attempt, 27th in the league. Since the Bears’ have not been leading enough, opponents haven’t had to pass as much, but when they do, they have been incredibly successful. The loss of Robert Quinn is incredibly apparent here as they have only grabbed 1.4 sacks per game on the year.

For the Detroit Lions, their pass performance is buoyed by a strong start to the season. They came out of the gate like gangbusters to start the year by putting up gaudy passing numbers. Lately, they have not looked so hot. With Josh Reynolds, DJ Chark, and Amon-Ra St. Brown all battling injuries at some point, Jared Goff has come crashing down to Earth looking indecisive and ineffective. Hopefully, Reynolds making his return allows Goff to return to form, and the Lions can take advantage of a bad pass defense. Even if Goff does not look great, the Lions should still have a slight advantage due to their skilled playmakers.

All rankings from Football Outsiders DVOA. Raw stats from Team Rankings

Lions’ 11th rush offense vs. Bears’ 28th rush defense

The Bears’ defense also struggles against the run. They give up a whopping 147 yards per game on 4.9 yards per carry. This unit has not been good at all, and after trading away Roquan Smith, they will only get worse. They did do a good job limiting the Dolphins to only 3.3 yards per carry, but Jeff Wilson did pick up 57 yards on only 9 carries.

Despite the recent offensive struggles, the rushing attack cannot be blamed. Even without a competent passing attack or D’Andre Swift for large chunks, the rushing attack continues to be incredibly efficient. Currently, the Lions are picking up 5 yards a carry, good for 7th in the league. This points to a big advantage for the Lions, especially up front. Frank Ragnow and Peneii Sewell are two of the best run blockers in the league and are facing off against Trevis Gipson and Justin Jones. Both Gipson and Jones have struggled heavily against the run with PFF grades below 45 against the run. The Detroit Lions should exploit this weakness for a nice game on the ground.

Lions’ 26th pass defense vs. Bears’ 27th pass offense

This matchup is a weakness verse a weakness. Despite their offense resurgence, the Bears are still last in the NFL in passing yards per game at only 126 yards per game. After a very slow start, Justin Fields has looked better, but his support group is one of the weakest in the league. Their offensive line is one of the weaker pass-blocking groups in the league giving up 3.7 sacks per game. Their wide receiver group is not much stronger as Darnell Mooney was their only productive receiver. They did receive reinforcements at the trade deadline in Chase Claypool. In his first game, he only mustered 13 yards, but he should improve with a better rapport with Fields.

On the Lions’ side, they have struggled against the pass. Similarly to the Bears, the Lions are giving up over 7 yards per attempt and only sacking quarterbacks 1.4 times a game. However, they have started to look better. Last week, they looked great against Aaron Rodgers, intercepting him 3 times and a 25 QBR. The key to their improvements has been the emergence of Kerby Joseph and Jerry Jacobs in the secondary.

That duo provides the Detroit Lions with a solid CB2 and a ball-hawking safety over the top. If they keep it up, the Lions’ pass defense should improve more to the 20s or middle of the pack. To drive improvements, the Lions’ pass rush needs to step up. They have been one of the worst in the league, but need to take advantage of a weak Bears’ offensive line.

Lions’ 26th rush defense vs. Bears’ 15th rush offense

The Bears have a terrific rushing attack led by David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, two productive backs. However, they both aren’t even the leading rusher on their team as QB Justin Fields is elite as a rusher and just broke Michael Vick‘s single-game rushing record. The Bears lead the league in rushing by a good amount picking up 195 yards per game. Even more deadly, in the past 3 games, they have picked up a huge 245 yards per game.

The Lions will have their hands full with the Bears’ rushing attack especially since they have struggled against the run. The Lions are 28th in the league in giving up 5 yards per carry and 31st in the league in yards given up per game. They have struggled against rushing quarterbacks. In week 1, Jalen Hurts burned them all game, and last week, Rodgers picked up some big 3rd downs with his legs.

The Lions must be better at gap integrity and speed to the ball to have any chance against Fields and the rushing attack. Even if they do, the Bears will have a big advantage against the Lions when running the ball. How big an advantage they have will likely determine the outcome of the game.

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