It’s another season where aspirations have not been realized by either squad. That said, few NFC teams are running away with playoff spots. Who knows, this matchup could be the start of a remarkable turnaround.

The oddsmakers have Matt Eberflus’ Bears as -3 favourites on the NFL odds. The over-under is predicted to be 48.5 points scored in total.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The Lions have been more like cubs when facing their Illinois-based rivals in recent seasons. Chicago has prevailed in seven of the past eight games. Furthermore, the last time Detroit won the season series was five years ago in 2022. Despite the imbalanced records, many of their contests are close, with a lot of them decided by 7 points or less. One supposes that games will be tight when two mediocre franchises meet.

For Dan Campbell’s Michigan unit, their record against the spread has gone pretty much the way of their actual results. A promising start that included a valiant fight against Philly in Week 1 was followed by victory in Week 2 against the Commanders. They even covered Week 3 in Minneapolis. Since then, they’ve gone 1-4 ATS for a 4-4 record overall.

As for the Bears, at 4-4-1 ATS, they’re a little all over the place. They came out of nowhere to beat both the 49ers and Patriots as underdogs but could only defeat the lowly Texans by 3 points and couldn’t cover against the Cowboys despite being +9.5 underdogs. For betters, you never know what you’re going to get with these Bears.

Detroit Lions

Week 9’s victory was a heck of a way to snap a five-game losing skid. After so many weeks during which the defence looked like one of the worst units in the league, they mustered all the scheming and passion they could and handed the hated Packers a 15-9 loss. That said, the team is still ranked dead-last in points against per game and second-last in total points against, but they came to play against Aaron Rodgers and the Pack.

It was a complete reversal of how most of their contests had played out, besides, you know, winning. Many of their tilts had been high-scoring affairs, with Detroit’s offence going ballistic. So much so that they’re still in the top ten for total yards per game, passing yards per game, and running yards per game. Chicago’s defence hasn’t been great lately, so opportunity beckons Detroit.

Chicago Bears

The Bears look like a team that has experienced a mid-season identity change. Granted, some of that may stem from the recent trade that saw DE Robert Quinn go to Philadelphia. Maybe QB Justin Fields and the offence have found ways to play to their strengths. Whatever it is, the past three weeks have seen Chicago put up a lot of points on the scoreboard, even though the defence has suffered in the process.

It starts with the run game. Actually, it’s all about the run game. If you can believe it, the Bears are the top-ranked team running with the ball (both in total and per game), but league-worst throwing in yards through the air per game (second-worst total passing yards). Fields himself does plenty of the damage. Consider that he’s run for 80 yards or more in 3 of the previous four games. He’s basically 50% of the rushing attack, statistically speaking.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Lions vs. Bears?

LIONS

Away

21

BEARS

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