It has been a year since the Detroit Lions won a football game. They beat the Bears 34-30 in December of 2020, but lost their last four games of the season. Dan Campbell's team had a losing streak in which they dropped eight in a row.
The Lions have a chance to turn it around this Thursday. I mean to get one mark in the win column this season before continuing to lose. The Bears-Packers game is one of the worst Turkey Day games in recent memory, and it has all the makings of a holiday miracle for Detroit.
There are rumors that Matt Nagy will be getting the boot on Black Friday because of the injury to quarterback Justin Fields, who will be out for the rest of the season.
The Bulls and Nagy's son's football team were subjected to the ire of displeased Bears fans, so this would be a welcome change in Chicago. If it is true, I would hope that a loss to the Lions would be the final nail in the coffin for Nagy, as he would be the first head coach to ever be fired by the Bears.
The last two games of the Lions have not been terrible. A tie and a close loss are better than a big win, and they are meeting up with a Bears team that is on a five-game losing streak. Detroit is not far behind in any of the metrics, but Chicago is at the bottom of the board in passing touchdown, passing yards, and completions. Both teams are in the middle of the pack in rushing offense, but neither has scored 20 goals.
Since the Lions may also be sitting their starter on Thursday, the Bears may not be in trouble immediately. The question of how the hell he made an NFL roster in the first place was raised by the fact that Tim Boyle had 12 touchdown and 26 interception in college. It is not going to be an offensive showcase on either side, so you can probably not watch at all, and just make your own mashed potatoes and stuffing. Power to you.
The Lions will need to use D'Andre Swift to his full potential if they want to take advantage of the Bears' inability to stop the pass rush. The Bears have the best chance to win if they can keep Swift to under 100 yards rushing. There is a chance that the Lions could get a return to the field from the injured player. If the Nagy rumors are true, the Bears are either going to play the best game of their season, or they are going to be so poorly coached that they just spiral. There is a chance that the leak will cause the front office to keep him around even longer to prove a point.
It will not be pretty. It may not be very entertaining. If you watch Thanksgiving lunch, you may lose appetite. It is the best chance for the Lions to notch any sort of victory and the Bears to finally put an end to the Nagy era.
