If the Detroit Lions hope to stay in the NFC North division race, they will need to go on the road on Monday Night in Week 7 and knock off the Chicago Bears. The Lions are currently two games behind Chicago in the standings, and will fall to three if they cannot overcome mistakes that have plagued themes thus far.
At 2-3, Detroit is coming off of a comeback victory in overtime against Philadelphia, or they would have been looking at 1-4. But as it stands, the Lions are still alive and kicking, but cannot afford to fall behind the Bears this far this early in the season.
As for Chicago, not much has gone wrong this season, but the Bears certainly face a significant challenge on defense with quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Calvin Johnson coming to town.
But with the Vikings winning, Chicago would fall into second place in the NFC North should they lose at home to the Lions.
Actually, the loser of this game will have also lost a game on every team in the division.
Minnesota got a victory on Sunday over Arizona and moved to 5-2 on the season, while Green Bay pulled to above .500 at 4-3 for the first time this season with a win over St. Louis.
So there is plenty on the line.
The key matchup in this game will probably come down to the Bears defensive front versus the Lion offense line and their ability to block and give Stafford time to throw down the field. Stafford has been hurried and rushed many times this season, which causes inaccurate throws. We all know Chicago likes to bring pressure, so it won’t just be the offensive line, but it will be the tight ends and the running backs helping to pick up these Bears blitz packages that will be critical.
Of course, Chicago quarterback Jay cutler is always entertaining, because we never know which Cutler will show up. he has the potential to be a great one, but has also been prone to turning the ball over as well.
This should definitely be a good one.