The Detroit Lions will try to earn their first 2-game winning streak of the season when they visit the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Despite last week’s victory over Green Bay, Detroit is just 2-6 midway through this 2022 campaign. Chicago comes in at 3-6 but has been showing recent signs of improvement.
Here are our predictions and best bets for this Lions-Bears NFC North showdown.
Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears spread, odds & betting lines
Point Spread: Bears -2.5, Lions +2.5
Total Points Over/Under: 48.5 points
Money Line Odds: Bears -145, Lions +125
Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears expert picks
Against the spread pick: Bears -2.5 (-110) over Lions
Even though Detroit is coming off a rare win, it’s not like it possesses much momentum. The Lions are 1-5 in their last 6 games and now have to go back on the road – where they are 0-3 SU and 1-2 ATS so far this season. Head coach Dan Campbell’s crew has picked up its 2 victories against the Commanders and Packers, who are a combined 7-11. Meanwhile, although the Bears are in the midst of a 2-game losing streak they should be playing with confidence. Justin Fields and company destroyed the Patriots 33-14 in Week 7 and rebounded from an understandable loss at Dallas on a short week to push the Dolphins from start to finish last weekend. Miami held on 35-32, but Fields went wild with 178 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 passing).
With the Bears’ offense suddenly in fine form, things don’t bode well or a Lions defene Detroit defense that is dead last in the league with room to spare – surrendering 417.3 yards per contest. It is also last in scoring defense (29.3 ppg) and 2nd-to-last in rushing defense (148.8 ypg). That inspires no kind of confidence in Detroit’s chances of stopping a Chicago offense that is #1 in the NFL in rushing by a country mile (195.4 ypg). We’re taking the Bears and giving the points.
Over/Under totals pick: Over 48.5 (-110)
These 2 teams have trended in completely opposite directions when it comes to scoring. The Bears never scored more than 23 points in any of their first 6 games, while the Lions were briefly the highest-scoring team in the entire NFL. Now Chicago is averaging 31.3 ppg over its last 3, whereas Detroit is posting a mere 12.0 ppg in its last 4. With the Bears at home and in superior form, look for their current pace to continue en route to a relatively high-scoring affair between 2 teams with subpar defenses.
The Bears upgraded their offense at the trade deadline by acquiring wide receiver Chase Claypool and weakened their defense by trading linebacker Roquan Smith. Meanwhile, the Lions are 8th in the league in passing and now face a Chicago defense that is 5th worst in yards per pass attempt allowed. Let’s go with the over, which is 7-3 in the Lions’ last 10 overall and 4-1 in the Bears’ last 5 overall.