Previewing Detroit Lions Week 13 NFL contest against Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving.
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00:00When you look at the Bears, just as a matchup, it just seems like when you look at their lineup,
00:04when you look at their roster, you got Swift, Allen, Moore. You have offensive weapons,
00:10probably the offensive line's not as good as it needs to be to be proficient and win games.
00:14But you look at the defense, there's talent there. Obviously, a defensive back in Johnson
00:18everybody raves about. And you realize, okay, there's some solid talent on this football team.
00:25And you kind of have to, when you start to preview a game like this, you got to look at
00:31Ibraflux and the coaching staff and say, man, you know, you've already blown out your offensive
00:35coordinator. Special teams have kind of struggled as of late, you know, having a kick block that
00:40cost you. So to me, I just think that the Lions are going to clearly have the coaching advantage.
00:45They're going to out scheme the Bears. But this is one of those deals where, you know,
00:49in a game like this, it's just tough because it is kind of a battle of mental attrition.
00:54Who makes the fewest mistakes? Who kind of prepares better? Because it's not going to
00:58be a lot of physical practices over the next three days beforehand. It's just a lot of mental work,
01:03recovery, and who's going to play their best. It might not be the best game,
01:07but I look at it from the perspective of the Lions. When you have an offensive line,
01:12it might be one of those deals where you pound the rock and you take a couple calculated risks,
01:18count on some of the young guys and maybe a couple unsung heroes like a Brock Wright
01:22or a Tim Patrick also who aren't the featured targets might also have an opportunity. Maybe
01:29like you said, maybe even a Donovan Peoples-Jones gets called up and gets some targets, but
01:34we'll see. Thanksgiving games, short notice is usually a battle of attrition, but I'm not really,
01:41you know, from the perspective of how much do I think that the Bears can come in and just blow
01:47out the Lions or make it very difficult. I don't think so. I just think that the Lions just may,
01:53you know, suffer from just one of those deals where a couple of unforced errors that maybe
01:57pop up that you don't expect. It's just one of those deals where it might not be the cleanest
02:02game that is going to be out there. But I do think that in a battle of mental attrition,
02:07I think the Lions might have a small edge. So while many people might think that, you know,
02:12the Lions being a heavy favorite right now lends to a heavier victory. I just think maybe one of
02:18those deals where you get to you get a 27 2017 victory where it's a little bit closer where the
02:23Lions are kind of just ahead the most of the game while the Bears kind of chip away, but I just don't
02:27view other than maybe Caleb Williams getting super excited and having an opportunity to make plays.
02:34I just don't see the Bears, you know, making it too difficult for the Lions, but I could also see,
02:40you know, at the end of the day, maybe the Bears making one or two plays late that ends up
02:45allowing them to get the victory. How do you view this going on? And just looking at the matchup,
02:49what concerns you? How do you see this game shaken out? You know, I think that this is one of those
02:54prime opportunities for Caleb Williams that I wouldn't be surprised if they come out just
02:59guns a blazing. He's got the weapons like I think that this you're not going to play for. Yeah,
03:05exactly. Your number one overall pick with all these guys around him on national television
03:10it's a holiday like I wouldn't be surprised if they come out hot, but I still think the only
03:14way the Lions lose this game is if they sleepwalk to halftime and it's a game at halftime. Then,
03:21you know, obviously you got the young quarterback with some confidence against the team
03:24that has a way better record than you. You're viewed as the heavy underdogs. Last time I
03:28checked it was double digits and, you know, now all of a sudden you're motivated going into halftime
03:33and it becomes a game. But if the Lions start fast and they really don't even have to score
03:37on that first drive, you just got to build a lead by halftime and then in the third quarter,
03:41you can do what you normally do, which is wear teams down with the run game and then hit the
03:46big plates. Then the Lions win in their traditional patented formula, right? But if you make this a
03:51game at halftime and you sleepwalk and maybe there's a turnover, you give up a couple of
03:56explosives on defense that you don't normally give up, or you start giving up touchdowns in
04:00the red zone like the defense hasn't done for the last couple of weeks, like that to me is when this
04:05starts to get a little bit unnerving because then you allow them to build confidence. They haven't
04:10won a game in a while. They just lost one that they were really, it felt like they should win
04:14against Minnesota on Sunday with the way they positioned themselves at the end of that game.
04:19So yeah, I mean, like I said, if they sleepwalk, the Lions don't come out hot and the Bears win
04:25with toughness and physicality early on, then this becomes a game. But if the Lions do what
04:29they normally do and they get up for this one, they should win comfortably like they have against
04:35teams they've been heavily favored over earlier in the year.