The Detroit Lions are gearing up for their annual Thanksgiving Day game, this year taking on the Chicago Bears. To get a feel for the Bears’ side of things I got together with Mike Praser over at Bears Goggles On.
Instead of the typical Q&A Mike and I decided to get into the holiday spirit and share some good old smack talk
Mike: My name is Michael Praser and I have been a staff writer for Bear Goggles On for over a year now. I have been a die-hard Bears fan ever since I went to my first game over 10 years ago and I have never looked back. I’m also a Cubs fan since birth, so I know a little something about disappointment year after year.
Braden: I live in Oklahoma but have been a Lions fan since I was a kid thanks to my family who graduated from Oklahoma State. They were huge Barry Sanders fans and followed that passion for him when he went to Detroit.
I’ve been to two Lions games so far. one in 2011 against Dallas when Megatron had one of the greatest catches of all time and the second time was this year first game of the season on Monday night football against the Giants. On that trip I got engaged and met Jim Caldwell. We even got pictures with him.
Mike: The last time I went to Detroit to see the Lions play, Devin Hester made a miraculous punt return touchdown and Brian Griese still sucked it up for the Bears. Lions victory ensued, and so did the ridicule and taunting towards me begin. Lions fans can be brutal. So can Chicago Bears fans. So Branden, the Lions just got their butts handed to them by the Patriots. What happened?
Here are my questions followed by his responses:
Braden: It’s Braden and in short, Tom Brady happened. More so than anything the Lions playmakers let the offense down. The Lions pass catchers dropped 3 touchdown catches which ultimately changed the game as they ended up with a total of 9 points instead. Oh and Matt Prater missed another field goal.
But hey it could be worst. At least the Lions didn’t give up 50+ points two weeks in on a row (cough cough Bears).
Speaking of the Bears how in the world did they win two straight?
I guess Tampa didn’t want to piss Brandon Marshall off. That dude puts his money where his mouth is.
Mike: The Bears won two in a row by playing a bunch of tomato cans. The Vikings and Bucs are two offensively challenged teams, and so are the Bears. Plus playing at home helps a little. The Bears have been awful this year. They have so many offensive weapons and yet they are wasted week in and week out. Then the defense gives up 50+ points two games in a row. Nothing is clicking in sync this year. Did you want me to tell you how I really feel?
Anyway, truth be told, I picked the Bears to lose the last two games. I don’t think they have a coaching staff that knows how to utilize the talent on the roster.
Speaking of talented rosters, I thought that the addition of Golden Tate was going to make the Lions offense one of the top scoring offenses in the league. Why haven’t the Lions lived up to my expectations?
Braden: Golden tate has been outstanding. If you remember the addition of Eric Ebron was supposed to do the same. The issue is the offensive line went from being one of the best units to one of the worst. The other issue is Calvin has been dinged up all season long and anyone not named Johnson or Tate has just been abysmally bad.
I tried to be very optimistic when the Lions passed on trading up for Sammy Watkins and Instead stayed pat drafting Ebron because of the evolution of the tight ends, but Ebron is testing the coaching staff’s patience and the fan bases for sure.
A lot of people want to pin Stafford for the offensive struggles. I guess that’s fair since he’s the quarterback but it’s been a flawed unit as a whole and the play calling hasn’t done the team any favors either.
What are your expectations for the Bears the rest of the year?
Mike: I really thought that the addition of both Eric Ebron and Golden Tate were going to make the Lions offense unstoppable. That is the crazy thing about football. I also thought the addition of Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston was going to fix the Bears defensive line. I was totally kidding myself. The Bears and Lions both have something in common.
They both have players who injured themselves celebrating. For the Bears, it didn’t matter much. Lamarr Houston was a Milk Carton player so far this year. You know, he was missing during the games, even though he was playing.
My expectations are for the Bears to lose each and every game for the rest of the season. This is a wasted season in my opinion, especially because the Bears have so much offensive talent. The defense should have been serviceable, but as you can tell, there were some games where the defense might have well not shown up. Now that doesn’t mean that the Bears are going to lose each and every game, it’s just what my expectations have lowered to after they gave up 50+ points against the Packers and Patriots.
First team to do that in a very, very long time I might mention. What are your expectations for the Lions the rest of the year?
Braden: Hey at least you can take comfort in the fact that the Bears won’t go 0-16 this season!
My expectations are that the Lions will compete for the division with the Packers the rest of the season. Fans are freaking out because the Lions lost to the two best teams in the NFC and AFC in the Cards and Pats.
Don’t read too much into that the Lions are still a very good team and should they get it together on offense, a dangerous one.
Mike, this has been really fun thanks for taking the time to do this with me. My final question for you is what you think the score will be on Thanksgiving?
Mike: I wasn’t going to bring up the 0-16 thing, so thanks for that.
The Bears proved me wrong and squeaked out a win against the Bucs last week. Who knew they would do it Lovie’s way. Sputtering offense and takeaways. I don’t miss Lovie Smith at all. What was up with that challenge? It was the two minute warning and they needed those time outs. What a moron. Anyway, the Bears are playing the Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving day and the Bears are going to lose. The Bears are still sputtering on offense and Cutler will probably be running for his life from Suh. Or worst yet, Suh will body slam Cutler and we are going to be seeing Jimmy Clausen this Thursday. Regardless, Bears lose.
Lions 31- Bears 12
What is your prediction for the game?
Braden: I don’t see how the Bears can win on Turkey Day but anything can happen in the NFL.
I think (hope) the Lions get right on offense against a poor Bears’ defense and win decisively. My prediction Lions win 31-13.