Are Bears getting Lions at the right time?
If timing really is everything, the Bears are in good shape heading into their Thanksgiving Day game against the Lions in Detroit.
Coach Marc Trestman's 5-6 team has won back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 2-3. Meanwhile, the 7-4 Lions have dropped two straight for the first time this season as they prepare for their 75th Thanksgiving Day game.
While Trestman's offense has been a major disappointment all season, the Bears have managed to score 39 more points than the Lions. Like the Bears, the Lions also believe they have exceptional skill-position talent, but their production hasn't matched their potential.
The Lions haven't scored a touchdown in their last two games, losing 14-6 to the Cardinals in Arizona and getting whipped 34-9 by the Patriots in New England. Not since a season-opening 35-14 victory over the New York Giants have the Lions scored more than 24 points in a game.
"I don't know that they're similar," Trestman said when asked for a comparison of the two teams. "I know that they've had a hard time scoring the last few weeks. We've scored the past few weeks - (but) not to the extent that we've wanted to."
Some of the Bears' biggest problems on offense have been caused by slow starts. They have failed to score a single point in the first quarter of six straight games. While they've been able to rally from 10-0 deficits in the last two games, that came against the 4-7 Minnesota Vikings and the 2-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Through 11 games, the Bears have been outscored 199-103 in the first half. And the offense will face a higher level of resistance against the Lions, who have held seven of their 11 opponents to 17 or fewer points.
"It's been disturbing that we haven't been able to move the ball the way we would like to in games; that's a fact," Trestman said. "It's not what we want. We've got another opportunity Thursday to move forward, and we're going to do everything we can to get that done."
Through nine games the Lions had sacked opposing quarterbacks 27 times. But they have none in their last two games, which is more good news for a Bears offense that gave up 3 sacks in the first half against the Bucs.
Conversely, the Bears' defense has held two straight opponents under 14 points, the only time that has happened under Trestman, who isn't ready yet to say that unit has found an identity.
"I'm not going to go there," Trestman said. "I do feel like we're getting very good effort from the guys up front. We've mixed up our rushes; we're getting some five- and six-man rushes, and some good four-man rushes. Guys are playing hard and working together."
At different times, the Bears have gotten good pass-rush pressure from all four starting defensive linemen.
Left end Willie Young leads the team with 8 sacks, nose tackle Stephen Paea is second with 6 after getting 2 on Sunday, and 3-technique tackle Jeremiah Ratliff has 4½. Right end Jared Allen has been limited to 2½ sacks, but he leads the team with 23 quarterback pressures.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is having a subpar year, and Detroit has had issues keeping him clean, ranking 25th in sacks allowed. But now that 6-foot-5, 241-pound Pro Bowl wide receiver Calvin Johnson is closer to 100 percent after being hobbled for several weeks, their offense is more dangerous.
The Bears aren't sure they'll have rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller available for Thursday's game after he left the Bucs game with a knee injury before halftime. If not, they might have to rely more heavily on the pass rush.
"This will be a great challenge for us this week," Trestman said. "(They're) certainly a talented offense with talented players at skill positions, so that'll be a big test for us, and we'll see a lot more about where we are."
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