Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears (+7)
With their third consecutive nationally televised loss — all by double-digits, nonetheless — the Bears have become everyone’s favorite team to write off. Surely, their season has long since been over, but they have completely lost everyone’s faith when it comes to showing up to the game and competing. What’s more, the Bears appeared to have hit rock bottom on multiple occasions this year, only to excavate further.
When Chicago hosts its third consecutive home game – five in the past six weeks – it will take on a Lions team that just won its fifth game by a touchdown or less. Typically known for close games – to their credit, close victories – it wasn’t until Thanksgiving that the Lions broke out of a miniature offensive slump to the tune of a 17-point victory. Conveniently enough, the victim hailed from Chicago.
The Bears have every single ingredient that could one could want for an upset. The opening line for this game started at four-and-a-half points, only to jump to a full touchdown. At home. Furthermore, the Lions are playing their first road game in the past four weeks — Detroit is 3-3 on the road, with only one victory by more than seven points — and have the Green Bay Packers looming in Week 17 in a game that will likely decide the NFC North. A look-ahead game by a team that doesn’t travel well against a nationally embarrassed franchise who has now, finally, hit rock bottom.
All this, and then there’s the news of Jay Cutler getting benched for backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Admittedly, the Bears were a favorite for an upset before this wrinkle, and now it seems almost impossible that they will pull it off completely. At least, to win outright. But, as a general rule of thumb, we tend to not change our pick due to the news, as news only affects the number of points in the spread, not what actually happens on field.
Detroit wins by six, but Chicago beats the spread.
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