Lions among NFL's worst, but Bears not taking them lightly
The fact that the Bears have lost four straight games to the Lions should be enough to prevent them from taking their winless NFC North foes lightly.
And there are plenty of other reasons.
“We don't look at records,” Bears coach John Fox said. “Believe it or not, I can't really tell you the record of the people behind us. We look at the tape, and there's a lot to look at. They're very capable, like all NFL teams. There are no cupcakes, regardless of records in this league.”
At 0-5, the Lions trail the 2-3 Bears, the 2-2 Vikings and the 5-0 Packers in the NFC North. They're the only NFL team without a victory, but if not for back-to-back, fourth-quarter-comeback victories, the Bears could be in the same leaky boat.
“It's the NFL,” tight end Martellus Bennett said. “We could easily be 0-5 right now. There's just a couple plays here and there. Turnovers probably hurt them a little bit.” That's an understatement. The Lions' 15 giveaways are at least 3 more than every other NFL team. No team has as many interceptions as the Lions' 9 (8 by Matthew Stafford) and no team has more than the Lions' 6 lost fumbles.
“The last couple of years they've had our number,” Bennett said. “So I'm hoping that this isn't a game that Matthew and Calvin (Johnson) and all those guys start clicking.”
Only the Colts' Andrew Luck (65.1) and the Texans' Ryan Mallet (63.6) have lower passer ratings than Stafford's 74.8. Stafford has been especially bad on third downs, with 5 interceptions and no touchdowns for a passer rating of 28.3, which is far and away the NFL's worst. Jay Cutler's third-down passer rating of 123.0 is third best in the league.
But, in his seventh season, Stafford has led the Lions to victory when tied or trailing in the fourth quarter 17 times. In 12 of those, the winning score came with less than 2:00 left and six came with under 1:00 remaining, five of them on Stafford passes.
Johnson, who recently turned 30, is third in the NFC with 32 receptions, but he's averaging a career-worst 10.1 yards per catch and has just 1 TD. His previous season low was 14.5 yards per catch, and he's had 53 TD catches in the previous five years.
“They've struggled,” Fox said. “They'd be the first to tell you. But I know what (Johnson) is capable of, and once it clicks, it's pretty impressive. And I've seen him click before. I've seen that team click before.”
Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has watched his group climb to No. 4 in the NFL in total yards allowed and No. 3 in passing yards allowed. But he remains wary of a Lions offense that has averaged 27.8 points per game in its last five games against the Bears.
“I still see all the talent and the explosiveness that they've had the past few years, ever since (Stafford) has been there,” Fangio said, “particularly with that receiving group that he's got in Johnson and (Golden) Tate (26 catches, 264 yards).
“They've played some really good defenses, and it just hasn't worked out for them. But they're still very capable of winning a lot of games.”
Fangio is correct that the schedule has not been kind to the Lions. The last three of their five losses have been to the Denver Broncos (24-12), Seattle Seahawks (13-10) and Arizona Cardinals (42-17). All three opponents are in the top 10 in yards and points allowed.
The Lions are dead last in the NFL in rushing yards and average gain per rush, but Fangio doesn't expects them to abandon the ground game.
“They've gone against defenses that are really hard to run the ball against,” he said. “They've got good backs. I expect them to recommit themselves back to the run.”
Veteran Joique Bell has missed the previous two games with an ankle injury that has him questionable this week, and he's averaging just 1.1 yards per carry (22 yards on 20 attempts). Rookie Ameer Abdullah is the Lions' leading rusher with 132 yards on 40 carries (3.3-yard average), but he's fumbled 3 times, although he's only lost one.
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