1. Make things easier for the offense.
Mitch Trubisky was strikingly clear in discussing the things he does well as a quarterback following the Bears’ 19-14 win over the New York Giants, from an up-tempo operation of the offense to throwing on the run, all while his teammates talked about the benefits of not having frequent and significant substitutions.
While Trubisky likely has made his wishes clear to Matt Nagy behind the scenes, a significant perception problem will emerge if the Bears ask Trubisky to beat a bad Detroit Lions team by winning from the huddle and pocket on Thanksgiving. So this otherwise-meaningless game should be an opportunity for Nagy to give Trubisky more no-huddle and bootleg opportunities, since what’s the harm in seeing if those are successful against a team the Bears should beat anyways?
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The Lions are 24th in defensive DVOA and just lost to a truly awful Washington side. With four games against likely playoff teams looming after Thanksgiving (Cowboys-Packers-Chiefs-Vikings), Thursday looks like the last golden opportunity for the Bears to jump-start their offense in 2019. Doing so by simplifying things — which makes sense anyways given it’s a short week — feels like Nagy and Trubisky’s best chance.
2. Score on defense or special teams.
The Lions gave up a 91-yard kickoff return touchdown last week in Washington and will likely start a potentially less-than-mobile Jeff Driskel, who was limited in walkthroughs this week with a hamstring injury. So there very well could be opportunities for Cordarrelle Patterson to house a kick return or the Bears to get their first defensive touchdown since Week 3.
If the Lions need Driskel to beat the Bears from the pocket, it should be a long day for him and this offense. Driskel’s best trait is his mobility — specifically, against the Bears in Week 10, he used it to run away from Khalil Mack, or run at him in quick-game concepts, to effectively scheme Mack out of the game. If that’s limited or nonexistent, Mack and this defense should have a feast on Thanksgiving — which could involve Kyle Fuller or Eddie Jackson or Ha Ha Clinton-Dix jumping a poorly-thrown ball and taking it for a touchdown.
Update: David Blough, not Jeff Driskel, is expected to start on Thanksgiving. An undrafted rookie who's never played an NFL snap should still provide opportunities for turnovers and touchdowns for this defense, though.
3. Cut out the mistakes.
The Bears’ win over the Giants was marred by a number of self-inflicted gaffes, from Cody Whitehair’s hands to the face penalty that negated Allen Robinson’s 60-yard reception to Ben Braunecker’s wide-open drop to the string of penalties that led to Eddy Pineiro missing a 48-yard PAT.
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Those mistakes made it hard to feel positive about the Bears’ win, even if they were largely cleaned up in the second half (outside of Trubisky’s inexplicable interception on an under thrown deep ball in the fourth quarter). The Bears will not only have a better chance to win at Ford Field without a rash of penalties and head-scratching blunders, but if they do win, they’ll be able to head into their Thursday night matchup with the Dallas Cowboys next week not only 6-6, but with a little bit of positive momentum.
Prediction: Bears 25, Lions 13
The Lions are the last bad team on the Bears’ schedule, and while the Bears won by seven points two weeks ago, this meeting feels darker for Detroit. The Lions are 3-7-1 and coming off a horrendous loss to Washington four days ago, and without Matthew Stafford to fix this thing, things look bleak here in Michigan.
So this prediction is more about the sorry state of the last-place Lions than it is about the Bears. A loss like this will only build the case for firing Matt Patricia after the season, while it’ll merely prove the Bears aren’t the worst team in the NFC North in 2019.
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