LAKE FOREST, Il. — The Chicago Bears’ desire for retribution doesn’t worry the Detroit Lions too much. But there’s another thing that worries them.
“Look man, they want to win and they’re playing pretty good football right now,” coach Dan Campbell remarked. “I don’t care about getting even. What this team presents worries me.
When the Lions (9-3) visit Soldier Field on Sunday, they aim to defeat the Bears (4-8) for the second time in the last four weeks.
Detroit enters the game having won four out of five, including a thrilling Nov. 19 comeback victory over Chicago at Ford Field. The NFC North leaders overcame a 12-point deficit to win 31–26 by scoring 17 points in the last 2 minutes and 59 seconds.
The Lions then suffered a setback against Green Bay before triumphing 33-28 in New Orleans the previous week, largely due to a remarkable performance by tight end Sam LaPorta. With nine receptions for 140 yards, including an early touchdown and a crucial first-down catch late in the game, the rookie from Iowa set career highs.
In the meantime, the Bears triumphed in Minnesota the following week to recover from their defeat at Detroit. With a game remaining, Cairo Santos’ fourth field goal gave them a 12-10 victory over the Vikings, ending Chicago’s 12-game losing streak to NFC North opponents.
They now have the opportunity to win two straight games for the first time since defeating the New York Giants and Seattle in Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2021 season following a bye. And nothing would please them more than to take Detroit’s money for it.
Tight end Cole Kmet stated, “I think we’ll be in pretty good shape if we can just kind of carry what we did the first 56 minutes of the game against Detroit and finish it like we did against the Vikings this last week.”
The pass rush led by Aidan Hutchinson of Detroit has occasionally been extremely effective, amassing 18 sacks in victories over Green Bay, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. The Lions have only played seven of the remaining eight games.
With 25 sacks, Detroit is ranked 27th. Chicago’s 17 is a league-low score.
The Lions may have an even harder time getting to the quarterback now that defensive tackle Alim McNeill is on injured reserve due to a knee injury. With five sacks, a career high, McNeill trailed only Hutchinson by half a sack in the team standings.
Hutchinson has at least one half-sack in each of his last three games against Chicago; his most recent one, against Justin Fields, forced a fumble and contributed to Detroit’s victory last month.
