Detroit Lions And Chicago Bears To Wrap Up Season; Bears Favored 3

NFL News - December 29th, 2009 - Written by Bryan

Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler is coming off one of his best performances of the season. While the Bears were eliminated from playoff contention several weeks ago, they will be looking to build off recent success in the regular season finale this week against division opponent Detroit.

The Bears won an overtime thriller at home over Minnesota on Monday night. Cutler played fantastic, completing 20 of 35 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He had struggled this season, and came into the game leading the NFL in interceptions. He did throw one, but that was his only mistake all night.

This performance was what Chicago had been hoping for all year long when they acquired Cutler from Denver prior to the season.

This week against Detroit, Cutler and the rest of the Bears offense should pick up where they left off against Minnesota. Detroit ranks near the bottom of the league in defense, surrendering nearly 400 yards per game.

The Lions are particularly vulnerable against the pass, so Cutler will have plenty of opportunities to connect with his receivers. Should he be able to do so, that would open up the running game for Matt Forte. Forte has not had the type of production he was expected to this year, but a nice performance against the Lions to close out 2009 would help.

In the first meeting against Detroit, Forte rushed for 121 yards on only 12 carries, which was his highest total all season.

On the other sideline, Detroit could only improve from last season when they did not win a single game. The addition of No. 1 draft pick, in quarterback Matthew Stafford this season helped the Lions procure a pair of wins, but the rookie has missed the last three weeks with a shoulder injury. Detroit made the decision to sit Stafford the rest of the season so that his shoulder would be 100% in 2010.

Last week against the 49ers, the Lions started quarterback Drew Stanton, but replaced him in the fourth quarter following an 11 for 21 performance, gaining only 130 yards and handing over three interceptions. Stanton was making his first NFL start.

The Lions continue to struggle with production in the running game as well. On the season they are averaging only 101 yards per game. This week against Chicago, the Lions must continually try and establish a run attack and short passes to their backs.

The Bears are aggressive on defense and like to blitz; Detroit should utilize the screen pass and catch Chicago over-pursuing.

Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz will have to decide on a quarterback for this week, however.

"Last week we said the true measure of a quarterback is his ability to move the team and put points on the board, and we didn't get that done today," Schwartz said in the post-game interview to the AP. "We didn't score touchdowns, we didn't move the team, we didn't get third-down conversions and we turned the ball over too much. It doesn't matter how Drew performed, the offense didn't perform well and ultimately that's the quarterback's responsibility."

The Lions will probably utilize Stanton again, as well as Daunte Culpepper, to fill the void of Stafford in the regular season finale.

As found at BetUS sportsbook, Chicago is favored to win by three, according to the Week 17 NFL Betting Odds/NFL Betting Lines. The over/under for the contest has been installed at 45 points.