For those of you who have followed along this season, I want to start off by saying thank you. This was my first full-ish season writing articles, and I truly enjoyed it.
There was no AI assistance as I had initially planned; a lot of gut instincts played, and a whole lot of meat headedness when it came to my beloved Chicago Bears.
So, for the final game of the regular season, instead of trying to play both sides of the coin and give some credit to the Lions where it’s due, we’re going full Bears meatball on this one.
We’re going to start this off with an absolute banger. It’s risky, but it’s a banger. Risky because if the Bears get out to a big lead, I could see them pulling Caleb and the remainder of the first team to rest them for the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, Caleb said he wanted to be the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history.
Considering the Bears are one of the longest-running NFL franchises, that’s pretty sad when you really think about it. Caleb is currently sitting at 3730 for the season, which means he’ll need 271 yards to eclipse the 4k mark. He’s only done that 4 times so far this season, but I think it gets done on Sunday.
Going back to the week 2 blowout in Detroit, Dan Campbell and the Lions had 4th and goal, were up 20+, went for it, and got the touchdown to extend the lead. Considering the Bears have won every second game against a division opponent this season, and the aforementioned running up of the score in week two, I don’t think BJ takes his foot off the gas unless it’s an absolute massacre and Caleb hits this number.
I definitely thought this total was a typo when I first saw it. Monangai has been a huge compliment to D’Andre Swift in Ben Johnson’s offense, and against a defensive front like the Lions, I think Monangai has a great opportunity in front of him.
He averages about ten yards better per game than this total. Since the Bears do have a game next week and the Lions do not, I’ll be interested to see if Ben Johnson holds true to his “starters are going to play” statement earlier in the week. Whether he does or not, Monangai is sure to get his fair share of carries, and I think he’s going to smash this number.
Right now, this seems way too easy for me not play it. Yes, they’re in Chicago, so the weather could be a factor on Sunday, but these are two of the top ten scoring offenses in the league.
Detroit ranks 5th in Rushing TDs, while Chicago ranks 7th. That bodes well for colder weather. The Chicago defense can’t seem to stop anything, and outside of the pass rush, Detroit’s defense isn’t much to write home about.
Again, the only hesitation I have is if Chicago will rest some of their starters, and we won’t know about that until closer to game time. Unless this total climbs to the 53-55 range, which I don’t see happening, I’m hammering this.