Subscribe
Follow Us
The Chicago Bears Week 10 matchup with the Detroit Lions will have all eyes on QB Justin Fields. The Bears are clearly in rebuild mode. They traded their two best defensive players prior to the trade deadline by sending Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens and Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles. The rest of this season appears to be all about finding out if Fields is their franchise quarterback.
They made another big move at the deadline, trading with the Pittsburgh Steelers for talented wide receiver Chase Claypool. The Bears had been vilified for failing to provide Fields with the appropriate weapons at the skill positions to succeed. With Claypool likely fully integrated this week, alongside Darnell Mooney, there is at least some talent at wide receiver. Cole Kmet is a decent tight end who has been coming on. David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert are probably one of the better running back duos in the NFL.
So, it's time to find out what Fields can really do. This week, the Bears take on a black-and-blue division rival in the Lions at home. The Lions are coming off their biggest game of the season, beating Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 15-9. Despite the strong effort defensively, that might have had as much to do with the Packers ineffectiveness on offense as it did their defense.
With that in mind, let's dive right in to the Bears Week 10 predictions for their game against the Lions.
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
4. Bears running backs combine for over 150 yards rushing
As I touched on, Chicago already has a very good pair of running backs. David Montgomery rushed for almost 3,000 yards with 21 touchdowns over the first three years of his career. He has seen a dip on production this year, but is still fully capable of having a solid game against the right defense. Enter the Detroit Lions rush defense.
The Lions rank 31st in the NFL allowing 148.8 rushing yards per game. A number of tailbacks have gone off against them this year, including Rhamondre Stevenson, Rashaad Penny and Miles Sanders. That's not exactly the who's who of NFL running backs.
But we cannot forget about Khalil Herbert. He has actually posted far better analytics than Montgomery this season in yards per carry, yards after contract and yards before first contact.
Rushing yards over expectation per attempt leaders:
1. Travis Etienne (2.38)
2. Tony Pollard (2.37)
3. Khalil Herbert (2.04)
4. Nick Chubb (1.99)
5. Kenneth Walker (1.78)Sell your Ezekiel Elliott and David Montgomery shares while you still can.
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) October 31, 2022
With Fields showing how deadly he can be on the ground, I would expect both Montgomery and Herbert to find running room between the tackles Sunday. Look for them to combine for over 150 rushing yards.
3. Bears defense picks off Lions QB Jared Goff 2 times
Article Continues Below
Through the first month of the season, the Lions were leading the NFL in scoring at over 31 points per game. I actually had a long discussion and a bet that they would not even finish top five. One month later, I am about ready to cash in. The Lions offense has completely fallen apart.
Jared Goff has turned back into the pumpkin we all know him to be. Don't get me wrong, when he is at home, he has still been a good quarterback. Since arriving in Detroit, Goff has thrown 26 TD's to just six interceptions at home. On the road though, he has seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. That's a nasty home-road split. This game is in Chicago.
It certainly didn't help Detroit's offense when they made the shocking move to trade T.J. Hockenson to a division rival, the Minnesota Vikings. Nevertheless, in a game where I expect the Bears to control the clock and run the football well, it should lead to Goff having to drop back more than he wants to. That tends to lead to mistakes with two of them landing in Bears hands.
2. Justin Fields has another big day
For the first four games this season, Fields and the Bears offense was worse than anemic. They were turning the block back to the 1950's. Fields had attempted 67 passes in four games, not completed, attempted. Of those 67, he completed just 34 (8.5 per game).
As of late, we have seen the Bears finally embrace who Fields really is; an athlete. In last week's 35-32 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Fields had a historic day on the ground. He rushed for 178 yards on 15 carries, which also opened up the passing game. He completed 17 of 28 passes with three passing touchdowns.
I don't expect him to go nuclear again this week. But he should have another successful day at the office with over 50 rush yards and a couple scores, using his arm and legs.
1. Bears beat Lions, move into 2nd place in NFC North
It is very plausible that the Lions come out flat for this game after their win last week. Meanwhile, the Bears still have a lot to prove and a lot to learn. I expect a strong effort from them as they jump out to a lead and don't look back. Combined with a Packers loss to the Cowboys Sunday, the Bears will find themselves in second place of the NFC North after Week 10.
