Week 5 Predictions: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
The Chicago Bears head to Detroit this week with a depleted receiving corp and beat up secondary. Kyle Orton’s go-to wide out Brandon Lloyd is out, and Marty Booker is a game time decision. As for the secondary, Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman were each injured in last weeks battle against the Eagles, but each practiced Friday and should be ready to go Sunday. Matt Forte will probably carry the load against a poor Lions rush defense. Lets take a look at how others predict the match up between the Bears and Lions this Sunday.
- Four out of the five experts at ESPN.com predict a Chicago Bears victory. The Bears are going to need their starting cornerbacks in order to stop top Lions receivers Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson. The Lions had two weeks to prepare for this match up after a bye in week 4.
- At Yahoo.com, the Bears got a clean sweep for victory from all three experts and fan votes. The fan votes at Yahoo! give the Bears a 88% chance of victory.
- The guys at CBSSports.com split the match up between the Bears and Lions at 4-4. Six of those picks were against the spread, Lions +3.5. The Harmon Forcast points to Matt Forte’s running abilities against the lousy Lion’s run defense. Pete Prisco, who picked the Bears to beat the Eagles, picks the Bears to get upset this week. His pick is based on the Lion’s bye week and the beat up Bears.
- At the Chicago Trib, the Bears got a clean sweep. All four predictions went to the Chicago Bears, and none of the scores were that close.
Here at BearsHQ we also predict a Chicago Bears victory. Matt Forte’s presence out of the backfield, both as a runner and receiver, has given opponent defenses a headache during the first month, and shouldn’t change in week 5. The Lions have the worst rush defense and the Bears are short at wide receiver, so look for Forte to get plenty of touches. The Bears take the game 27-17.
Week 5 Preview: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
The Bears go into week five with their heads held high. The Bears defense looked very sharp last week against the Eagles and they hope the momentum will carry over into this week . Kyle Orton will need to limit his turnovers and Matt Forte should expect close to 30 carries, with Brandon Lloyd out and Marty Booker questionable. Greg Olsen should expect to get a few more passes this week also.
The Lions go into week five without a win and hope the firing of Matt Millen will produce some positive change. Look for Rudi Johnson and rookie Kevin Smith to split the carries until one shows they can break the Bears defense. Jon Kitna and Calvin Johnson will need to have some big hook ups, if they hope to match up against the Bears.
The Bears are the promising team in this match up and if they can limit the amount of turnovers, they will prevail. Look for Matt Forte to destroy the Lions defense and and possibly have a career day. For the Lions to have any chance, they will need to get the run game going early, which will open up the passing lanes for Kitna.
Week 4 Ratings: Second Half Defense Leads Bears over Eagles
In week 4, the Chicago Bears looked like a playoff team, at times. At other times, the Bears looked like a last place team. The Bears come out of the gates quick, putting up 7 points in three plays. Taking a 21-14 point lead into half time, the third game the Bears lead going into the half. The third quarter was a mess though, and the Bears offense turned the ball over three times, while gaining just four yards and zero first downs. The defense came through though on a huge goal line stand, forcing a turn over on downs by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bears almost blew another fourth quarter lead, but came out on top, 24-20.
Lets take a look at how the Bears did, position by position.
Quarterback- 18/34, 199 yrds, 3 td, 2 int- Rating: 3/5
Kyle Orton started off great. Taking the Bears down the field in three plays, all passing, on their opening drive resulting in a 19-yard pass to Greg Olsen. Orton would finish with three touchdowns, a career high. All three touchdowns came in the first half though. The second half was a different story though. In the third quarter Orton turned the ball over three times, one interception and two fumbles. All three turnovers came on three consecutive possessions. In the end, Orton turned out a pretty good performance, but needs to play like he did the first half more consistently if the Bears are going to make a run at the division.
Running Backs- 26 carries, 78 yrds, 3.0 avg- 6 catches, 43 yards- Rating: 3.5/5
This was not the best rushing performance by the Bears run game, but it did the job. They picked up yards in key situations. Matt Forte carried the ball 19 times for just 43 yards. Kevin Jones spelled him three times for 16 yards. Devin Hester gained 15 yards on an end around, and Marty Booker picked up three yards on what looked to be a wide receiver option. Forte continued to be a reliable receiving option for Orton out of the backfield though, as Orton found him five times when he was getting into trouble. In the end, you would like to see the ground game pick up more yards, but in a game where Orton shined in the first half, the ground game was able to eat away the clock in the fourth quarter. Forte turned in a total 24 touches for 88 yards.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends- 12 catches, 157 yrds, 3 TDs- Rating: 3.5/5
The Chicago Bears reveiving core looked great as a group, but no one stood out alone. Hester, Booker and Olsen all caught touch down passes. Hester also dropped a pass over the middle of the field that would proably have ended in a touchdown. He redemed himself with a 20 yard grab down the sideline for a second quarter touchdown that put Chicago up 21-14. Olsen had three catches, and zero turnovers! Booker also got his first touchdown back with the Bears. Brandon Lloyd, last weeks leading wide out, had two catches for 33 yards before leaving with an injury, which he did not return from. Besides the dropped catch by Hester, the wide outs performed well.
Defensive Line- 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks – Rating: 4/5
The Chicago Bears were without pro-bowl defensive lineman Tommie Harris and did not have to face pro-bowl running back Brian Westbrook or pro-bowl guard Shaun Andrews. They held running back Correll Buckhalter to just 66 yards rushing but he averaged 4.1 yards per carry. The were able to keep Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb on the run though, sacking him 1.5 times. The line made a huge stop in the fourth quarter though. As the eagles drove 75 yards down the field with hopes of tying the, the Chicago Bears stopped them at the one yard line on 3 consecutive plays, yielding a turn over on downs.
Linebackers- 11 tackles, 1 sack- Rating: 3.5/5
The Bears linebackers played a great game Sunday, although not putting up huge numbers. Lance Briggs was continuosly chasing guys around the field, and had two crowed ‘awwing’ hits. Hunter Hillenmeyer sacked McNabb once, and Brain Urlacher was all over the field as usual, picking up 8 tackles.
Defensive Secondary- 22 tackles, .5 sack, 1 int- Rating 4/5
The Chicago Bears secondary played very well Sunday, allowing the least amount of passing yards and touchdowns by McNabb for the season. Danieal Manning got into the back field to assist Ogunleye in a sack. Kevin Payne tied Urlacher for the team lead in sacks with 8 tackles, he also returned an interception for 49 yards, almost scoring a touchdown. The secondary had a touch time trying to cover speedy rookie DeShawn Jackson who scored the only receiving touchdown for the Eagles. Charles Tillman left in the fourth quarter after being in obvious pain after missing a tackle. The Bears secondary was able to prevent any really big plays, something usually tough for the opposing teams to do against the Eagles offense.
Overall Team Rating: 4/5
The Chicago Bears were the clear underdogs against the Eagles, as nobody was really giving them a chance. The Bears showed early that they were a team that should not be looked over. The second half play by the Bears offense, mainly Orton, was clear to why they blew second half leads the last two weeks and are only 2-2. The defense showed its true character with their goal line stand, which was definitely the focal point of the second half.
While it was first half offense that got the Bears going in week 4, it was traditional Chicago Bears defense that finished of the game in the second half.
Recap Week 4 – Eagles Vs. Bears
The Bears started off the game sharp with a 19 yard touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Greg Olsen. Orton ended up with 199 passing yards and a career high three touchdowns. Orton also managed to make all four of the Bears turnovers with two interceptions and two fumbles. Matt Forte ran for 43 yards on 19 carries and five receptions for 42 yards. Marty Booker and Devin Hester also got in the mix with Booker’s one catch for a 23 yard touchdown and Hester’s three catches for 27 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles on the other hand weren’t the same without Westbrook and I’m sure they would contribute his absence to their loss. The starting running back, Correll Buckhalter, had 16 carries for 66 yards and two catches for 24 yards. McNabb threw for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception. McNabb’s only touchdown went to rookie DeShawn Jackson in the first quarter.
The Bears went into the fourth quarter with the lead and finally managed to hold it. After two huge defensive stops at the goal line, the Bears walked away with a 24 to 20 win. It was a lot closer than many fans would like to have seen, but a win is a win.
The Bears will travel next week to Detroit to face the Millenless Lions.
Orton’s go-to guy(s), Lloyd and Forte?
After three weeks, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd appears to be the Bears, or at least Kyle Ortons, go-to wide out. The six foot receive leads all bears receivers in yards and yards per catch with 216 and 16.6. respectively. Lloyd’s ability to adjust to deep passes by not necessarily running by guys has been a great option to Orton, whose deep ball is not always on target. Ron Turner, coach of Lloyd at the University of Illinois, always new he had great talent and was not afraid to bring him to Chicago during the off-season despite a poor 2007 season in which Lloyd caught only two balls and caused several problems within the locker room.
After three weeks, rookie running back Matt Forte leads all NFL running backs in carries with 73 touches. Forte has carried the load for Chicago early in the season, which should cause teams to bring more men into the box opening up the passing game. Forte’s 304 rushing yards ranks him fourth in the league, and he ranks second in yards from scrimmage behind Frank Gore with 405 total yards. And Lovie Smith says his work load isn’t going to decrease anytime soon, “He’s young right now with a lot of energy. Whenever Matt isn’t on the field, it isn’t really good for us.”
First round draft pick Chris Williams returned to practice for the first time Wednesday since his surgery. Williams put the pads on and everything, but was limited to individual and conditioning drills. No time table is set for Williams return, and Run Turner believes it will take a while for the rookie to get into full team practice as he had no training camp or pre-season.
In other news around the division, the Detroit Lions have finally let go of general manager Matt Millen. During Millen’s tenure with the Lions, the team finished has more loses than any other team.
