Week 1 NFL Predictions: Chicago Bears By a Touchdown Over Detroit Lions
Published by Jack Jones on September 11, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Detroit Lions travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in an NFC North battle. The kickoff is set for 1:00 EST and NFL odds show a line of Chicago -6.5 over Detroit with a total set of 44.5 points.
The spotlight will be on the quarterbacks, especially Jay Cutler who needs to have a big year to justify the move the Bears made to go out and get him. Matthew Stafford looks to build on a rookie season in which he flashed a ton of potential for the Lions, making him a worthy first overall pick.
New offensive coordinator Mike Martz also has a lot of pressure on his shoulders in trying to regain the magic he once created with the St. Louis Rams. Many feel Cutler is primed for a breakout year in Martz’s system, and he’ll need one if the Bears are to snap their three-year run of missing the playoffs each season.
In fairness to Cutler, he did finish with the second-most passing yards in team history with 3,666. He also threw for 27 touchdowns, two short of the franchise mark set by Erik Kramer back in 1995.
What most people remember about Cutler last year, especially Bears fans, is the 26 interceptions. That number was the most by a Chicago quarterback since 1947. He will be asked to throw the ball even more under Martz, who hasn’t had much success of late in trying to resurrect offenses in San Francisco and Detroit before signing with Chicago.
If the preseason was any indication, it looks like nothing has changed. The Bears were near the bottom of the league in yards per game and only scored on three of 16 possessions with Cutler running the offense. Chicago gave up an NFL-worst 19 sacks in the preseason as well.
To help out Cutler, the Bears desperately need Matt Forte to perform like he did in his rookie year. He accounted for 1,715 yards on the ground and through the air that year, but came back to rush for just 929 yards in 2009.
Chicago knew they needed to give Forte some competition and some help, so they signed Chester Taylor from Minnesota would was a No. 1 back in Minnesota before Adrian Peterson arrived. Taylor rushed for 1,216 yards back in 2006 and should see plenty of playing time this year.
Chicago did give their defense some help by signing defensive end Julius Peppers to a huge contract, a six-year deal that pays him up to $91.5 million. He has 81 sacks over the last eight years and didn’t miss a beat last season, registering 10.5 sacks with Carolina despite playing unmotivated for much of the year. His addition gives the Bears a strong defensive line, with Tommy Harris manning the middle.
Stafford’s numbers last year don’t indicate that he was worthy of a No. 1 pick, but the potential he showed certainly does. He did throw 20 interceptions and only 13 touchdowns while completing 53.3 percent of his passes in 10 starts, but the heart he showed while playing through a dislocated shoulder to help the Lions beat the Cleveland Browns won over his teammates.
Stafford will have more help this year with more playmakers. Detroit added Nate Burleson, Jahvid Best and Tony Scheffler this offseason to go along with star wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
The defense is automatically better with Ndamukong Suh in the middle, the team’s No. 2 pick this offseason. He’ll be trying to help improve on a unit that ranked dead last in total defense, giving up 392.1 yards per game. They were also 25th against the run and 29th in sacks, all key contributors to a 2-14 season in 2009.
No team has been worse than Detroit since 2001, as the Lions have 111 losses during that time. They have lost 20 straight road games, with their last win coming at Soldier Field back in 2007 ironically. If they go on to break the record for most consecutive road losses, then they’ll be breaking their own mark which Detroit set from 2001-03 with 24 straight road defeats.
Head-to-head history – The Bears are 4-0 in the last four meetings and 8-2 in the last 10 meetings overall. They’ve also won seven of the last nine at Soldier Field.
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