Quote Originally Posted by MrBator:
Chicago who lost BOTH games to Detroit last year
Roberto, I'm worried about this. I think any NFL team as weak as the Lions needs to have an important factor in its favor - the element of surprise. A team like the Lions needs to have the other team overlooking them, underestimating them, and unafraid of losing to them. Most weeks of the season, the Lions definetely have at least THAT going for them, but this week, I'm not sure. Even if the rest of the league (and the world) can't take the Lions seriously, the Bears have to, based on the fact that they (embarrasingly) failed to beat them not once but twice last season. There's no doubt that this is a very important game for the Lions (winless, at home, division rival, first game out from under the Millen regime), but it's also a very important one for the Bears, too.
I'm just not sure the sad Lions are finished exploring the depths of their own futility. Every week I think they can't sink any lower, but then......
Point taken .
However, taking the game between NY Jets and New England after Tom Brady went down in week one , it was clearly the Jets best opportunity to revenge years of frustration and embarassement, but New England continued their dominance over their division rival despite the strong motivation for NY.
Now, I understand that a weak team rarely ever dominates another on a consistent basis in the NFL . The 49ers beat the crap out the Lambs year in and year out for more than a decade , and this as is the case with New England involved a very good team beating up on a weaker one.
I look at it from the perspective that while Chicago won't overlook Detroit after beating Philadelphia due to their two losses against Detroit last year, it is Detroit's gain in confidence knowing that they CAN beat the Chicago Bears , because they did ...twice last year.
Chicago has won 65 games since the 2000-2001 season averaging 8.12 wins per year in that span . Detroit has won 38 games averaging 4.75 wins ( what an embarassment ) in that same span . Let's see how Detroit has done @ home vs Chicago during this period :
2000-2001 Detroit loses 20-23 vs Chi and goes 1-1 ATS . Detroit wins 9 games while Chicago wins 5
2001-2002 Detroit loses 0-24 vs Chi and goes 1-1 ATS Chicago wins 13 games while Detroit wins 2
2002-2003 Detroit wins 23-20 in OT and goes 1-1 ATS Chicago wins 4 games while Detroit wins 3
2003-2004 Detroit wins 12-10 and goes 1-1 ATS Chicago wins 7 games while Detroit wins 5
2004-2005 Detroit wins 19-13 and goes 1-1 ATS Detroit wins 6 games while Chicago wins 5
2005-2006 Detroit loses 13-19 in OT and goes 0-2 ATS Chicago wins 11 games while Detroit wins 3
2006-2007 Detroit loses 21-26 ( as 6 point dogs ) and goes 1-1 ATS Chicago wins 13 games while Detroit wins 3
2007-2008 Detroit wins 37-27 and goes 2-0 ATS Chicago wins 7 games while Detroit wins 7 games
What we have is the Detroit tied 8-8 ATS , while the underdog has an edge 12-4 ATS ( including 7 out of the last 8 games , with 5 of the total 16 games decided by 3 points or less with another by 6 in OT. There have been 3 OT games among those 16 played.
Chicago and Detroit are deadlocked at 8 wins SU a piece, even though Chicago won 65 games, compared to Detroit's 38 overall in that span.
Detroit playing @ home goes 3-5 SU & 4-4 ATS vs Chicago since 2000 . If you don't like this spot for Detroit , you can wait for the matchup @ Soldier Field where Detroit will be getting more points .
Only twice in this series since 2000 has Detroit gotten points both on the road and @ home , and Detroit came out winning 3 out of 4 of those games , and also going 3-1 ATS . Two of those games ended in OT.
In conclusion , Chicago has looked solid this year , going toe to toe with strong teams and nearly winning all of them as their only defeats came in against TB ( a loss by OT ) , and @ Carolina by only 3 points , while handling Indianapolis quite easily , and coming through with a great goal line stand against Philadelphia for another victory .
Though one could argue that they aren't that far from an 1-3 start as well. Chicago ranks 20th on offense and 16th on defense through their first 4 games. They have shined in the spotlight by grabbing their 2 victories on national television , but even though they lost to Detroit twice last year , they are expected to win on the road against them and by more than a field goal .
The pressure is on the Bears, who have had very physical games to start this season, and are facing a refreshed Detroit Lions team that I gather will be quite focused and loose . This team is not expected to make the playoffs.
We have probably seen the worst of the Lions , and I don't expect them to get steam rolled like they have in their first three games . This article gave me some encouragement that the Lions used the bye-week wisely , and will make amends coming out of it .Lions\' coordinators prepare for Sunday\'s game.
Two more angles to consider :
Detroit has come out of the bye-week recently winning 3 out of games ... & winning the last 4 ATS ( Detroit 4-0 ATS after bye week . )
Finally , as bad as Detroit has been this decade ( winning only 38 games out of a possible 128 , the Lions have managed to stay out of long losing streaks ATS . In fact, looking at each season individually since 2000 , Detroit has not had more than 4 consecutive ATS losses ever .
They presently have a 3 game losing streak , and looking back at Detroit's 3 game ATS losing streaks , this is how they responded >>
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