The Detroit Lions are in the middle of a fight for the NFC North, tied at 10-4 with their Week 17 opponent, the Green Bay Packers. First, the Lions have to get past the Chicago Bears on the road. Their hosts, however, are doing their best to look like the most dysfunctional team in professional football.
Lions vs. Bears 2014 picks and predictions: Experts don’t think Chicago stands a chance
Detroit has plenty to play for while the Bears are in shambles. The only question is whether this game will get as ugly as it looks to be on the surface.
How bad is it? After a three-game losing streak, head coach Marc Trestman decided to bench quarterback Jay Cutler for Jimmy Clausen, who hasn't started a game since 2010. The Bears have been out of the playoff picture for weeks now and have just a 2-5 record at Soldier Field this year. According to OddsShark, Chicago is a 9.5-point underdog at home. That's hardly surprisingly, especially given the 34-17 beating the Lions gave the Bears on Thanksgiving Day.
Detroit boasts the top-ranked scoring defense in the NFL, allowing just 17 points per contest. On the other side, Chicago’s defensive unit is dead last in opponents’ points per game with 29.2 allowed.
Considering Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford are the catalysts to the Lions' offense, that could spell trouble all around for the home team.
That’s the way the experts see it, too. Not one panelist among all three major groups at ESPN, CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports picked the Bears to win.
SB Nation’s team is hardly different than the rest of the analysts. Only PFT Commenter thinks Chicago stands a chance:
| Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | PFT Commenter | Matt Ufford | OddsShark Computer | |
| DET @ CHI | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET | CHI | DET | DET |
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