Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell could be coaching for his job in Sunday's finale against the Chicago Bears. The Lions will not be playing into the postseason, and they are set to wrap up yet another losing season despite plenty of talent on both sides of the ball.
NFL picks and predictions, Lions vs. Bears 2016: Experts split on NFC North matchup
There’s no consensus on Sunday’s divisional game between the Lions and Bears.
Both the Lions and Bears are sitting at 6-9 on the season, and they are essentially fighting for NFL Draft seeding at this stage. Neither will make it to the playoffs, but the Bears seem to have stability on the coaching staff while the Lions have already seen shakeups in the front office.
Rod Wood took over for a fired Tom Lewand as team president and they are now looking for a general manager to replace Martin Mayhew. If the Lions get dominated Sunday, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume Caldwell’s job could be on the line, especially if the Lions land a general manager candidate that they respect enough to allow him to spearhead a search for a new head coach.
The Lions are coming off a pair of victories, and beat the Bears at home the first time they played back in Week 6. It was the Lions' first win of the year and it didn't come easy. Detroit eked out the 37-34 win in overtime after Matt Prater kicked the game-winning field goal. Now, the Lions have put up over 30 points in their last two games, while the Bears had lost three consecutive games before beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their last outing.
As far as experts are concerned, they’re pretty split on Sunday’s game. Over at CBS Sports, three of the eight writers think the Bears will win, with the rest going for Detroit. Here at SB Nation, four of our panelists think the home team will emerge victorious, while the other four think the Lions will pick up the win.
| Week 17 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
| DET vs CHI | DET | CHI | CHI | DET | DET | CHI | CHI | DET |
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