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The Detroit Lions are 3-4-1 on the season after falling to the Oakland Raiders 31-24 at the wire in Week 9.
Now they square off with an NFC North divisional rival in Week 10. Detroit is going up against the Chicago Bears, a team that came into the year with major expectations but is just 3-5 through the first nine weeks.
While Chicago is trying to come out of a major funk, Detroit is simply trying to bounce back from a loss to get back to .500. Can they do it though?
Here are four reasons the Lions will defeat the Bears in Week 10.
Mitchell Trubisky
To be completely blunt, until he shows otherwise, Mitchell Trubisky will be a reason a team could defeat the Bears every week.
The quarterback has been bad. Through seven games he has just 1,217 yards. Yes, that's under 200 passing yards per game. He also has just five touchdown passes (compared to three interceptions).
Those aren't the numbers a quarterback posts for a winning team.
Trubisky has only magnified the spotlight on him with his comment this week. He talked about how he wants the TVs turned off at the team facilities because the media is talking negatively.
The fact that he said this to the media and not to the team privately is what shocked most people. Now everything he does will be scrutinized even more.
Detroit will pounce on him.
Matt Stafford
Matt Stafford has been labeled an overrated quarterback for quite some time.
In fact, it's gotten to the point where the classic switch has happened. He's been called overrated so much that people are starting to forget he's really good. They think that since he's “overrated” he's average at best. This has made him underrated.
Stafford is still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He's been hampered by not winning all that much, but the help around him hasn't been great.
Stafford's never really had a running game and Detroit's defense usually isn't up to par.
Still, he puts up numbers and gets them a few extra wins every year. This year, Stafford has 2,499 yards in eight games. That's the fourth-most in the NFL. Even more impressive, the four players in front of him have all played nine games. Stafford's 312.4 passing yards per game lead the NFL.
He also has 19 touchdown passes (second most in the NFL) compared to five interceptions.
The numbers paint a picture of a top-tier quarterback. Stafford will give his team a chance to win every week. Going up against an elite Chicago defense, he'll need to be at the top of his game in Week 10.
Free Fall
Chicago has lost four in a row.
After starting the year 3-1, the Bears have dropped four straight to move to 3-5. They went from legitimate Super Bowl contenders to a team most don't expect to make the playoffs. The offense has become a joke.
With everything going on around the Bears, it's hard to give them a win. They've lost four straight and their quarterback is struggling mightily.
Meanwhile, outside of Allen Robinson, no one has been good this year offensively. Tarik Cohen has been particularly disappointing.
While they are liable to turn it around at any moment, too many things are going wrong for Chicago right now.
So Many Weapons
Stafford is a great quarterback. He's proving that this year. However, look at all those weapons in the passing game.
Kenny Golladay is so much fun to watch. Meanwhile, Marvin Jones Jr. and Danny Amendola are as reliable as ever.
Those three make one of the best (and overlooked) wide receiver trios in the NFL. At any moment one of them can take over a game.
Then there's tight end T.J. Hockenson. Sure, he's a rookie, but he has had big moments when you realize how good he's going to be. Teams have to pay attention to him. They can't just stick a random linebacker on him and expect not to hear from him.
With so many weapons, it's hard for a defense to shut them all down. A lot of the time, a defense just needs to lock down one, maybe two players. However, with the Lions, you're out of luck.
Stafford will gladly force feed whoever is open. While it doesn't always lead to a win, it certainly keeps the Lions in the game. This week, it might just get them that W and push them back to .500.
