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Bears, Lions play key division matchup on Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 11/27/2014  at  5:35:00 AM
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CHICAGO BEARS (5-6)
at DETROIT LIONS (7-4)

Kickoff: Thursday, 12:30 p.m. ET
Line: Detroit -7, Total: 47

The Bears look to win their third straight game when they visit the struggling Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is the BetDSI Sportsbook betting preview for this matchup:

Chicago is coming off a 21-13 home victory over the Buccaneers, which marked its second straight 21-13 win after topping the Vikings by that same score in Week 11. Detroit, meanwhile, has scored just 15 points during a two-game losing skid, falling 34-9 at New England last week. The team is now 1-4 ATS in its past five contests. Last season, the Lions won-and-covered in both meetings with the Bears, and are 4-2 SU (but only 2-4 ATS) as the host in this series since 2008. This matchup features a Detroit defense that is top-10 in the league at defending the pass going up against Chicago QB Jay Cutler, who can be a turnover machine when he is thrown off his game. The Lions are 1-10 ATS off a non-conference game over the past three seasons, but get to face a Bears team that is 0-7 ATS after having won two out of its previous three games in the past two seasons. Chicago is dealing with a slew of defensive injuries with CB Kyle Fuller (knee), LB Lance Briggs (groin), DE Trevor Scott (knee) and LB Darryl Sharpton (hamstring) all listed as questionable for Thursday. After sitting out last week, RB Reggie Bush (ankle) is expected to give it a go for the Lions in this one, but OLs Larry Warford and Riley Reiff are not likely to play due to knee injuries.

Which NFC North team will pick up the crucial division win on Thursday? For the answer, connect to NFL Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and playoffs. The experts have remained hot over the past 10 weeks, combining for a 56% ATS mark (85-68). StatFox Scott is 63% ATS (25-15) in Best Bets during this timeframe, and 58% ATS (28-20) on the season. StatFox Dave is 57% ATS (25-19) in Best Bets during these 10 weeks to improve to 55% ATS (29-24) on the season, while StatFox Brian continues to roll in NFL Totals with a strong 60% record (21-14) for the season. StatFox Gary is 8-2 ATS in his past three weeks of NFL Best Bets.

The Bears have won two straight games and still have a small chance of making the playoffs, but they’ll need to beat the Lions on Thursday. One player who will need to play well in this game is QB Jay Cutler (2,825 pass yards, 22 TD, 12 INT), who has been excellent against the Lions in recent years. Over the past five seasons, Cutler is 7-4 SU with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in 11 meetings with the Lions. In his past five trips to Detroit, he has thrown for 266.6 yards per game with nine total touchdowns and just three interceptions. As long as he can limit mistakes, the Bears will have a chance to pull off the upset. WR Alshon Jeffery (58 rec, 783 yards, 5 TD) has been Cutler’s go-to-guy in recent weeks. Over the past three games, Jeffery has 19 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns. He should be able to make some plays against a defense that really struggled with the Patriots on Sunday. RB Matt Forte (822 rush yards, 5 TD) has been this team’s best player all season long. Over the past two weeks, he has rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns while catching 11 passes for 81 yards. The Lions do, however, have the best rushing defense in football and could really give him some trouble on Thursday.

The Lions have really struggled recently and are coming off of an embarrassing 34-9 road loss to the Patriots. This Lions offense has not scored a touchdown in two weeks and will really need QB Matthew Stafford (2,943 pass yards, 13 TD, 10 INT) to break out of his slump. Over the past two weeks, Stafford has thrown two interceptions while not being able to find the end zone. WR Calvin Johnson (38 rec, 578 yards, 3 TD) has caught just nine passes for 117 yards with no touchdowns during the two-game losing skid. Stafford and Johnson will need to regain the magic they once had in this division game or they could be in danger of missing the playoffs after an impressive start to this season. RB Reggie Bush (191 rush yards, 1 TD) should return for this game, and will add some much-needed explosiveness to this offense. Bush rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Lions’ two victories over the Bears last season. Chicago has trouble dealing with his shiftiness and the Lions could really use him back. Defensively this team is still one of the best in the league, but has been lit up for 655 passing yards during the two-game losing skid. Detroit will need to do a better job defending the pass against Chicago.


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