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.