By far the coolest and most exciting stat: With a win against the Lions the Chicago Bears could become first team in the NFL with 650 regular-season wins. That’s an incredible achievement and a testament to the history and success of this franchise even if they have been shuffling towards this milestone the last couple years.
Bears lead Lions 84-62-5 all time including their first game this season (Sept 18th at Chicago) where the score was Bears 38, Lions 6. (The most points scored in a game by the Bears since their 47-17 victory over the Bucs in 1993.)
In that game former Lions QB Joey Harrington threw 5 interceptions.
Also in that game rookie QB Kyle Orton earned his first NFL win.
Since then Orton has won 2, lost 2, and is yet to throw for more than 150 yards in a game, but he has thrown only one interception in his last three games.
That said…
Lions are third in NFL with 18 takeaways.
Bears have allowed just 248.5 yards per game, third in NFL, and 4.1 yards per play, best in NFL.
Bears rank second with 69.2 TD percentage (9-for-13) inside opponent's 20.
Bears are No. 1, holding opponents to one TD in 13 trips inside Chicago 20.
The official rankings have the Bears ranked 28th in overall offense (11th in rushing and 30th in passing) and 3rd in defense (4th in rushing, 9th in passing).
The Bears look even better in the Aikman Efficiency Ratings. Troy Aikman’s formula for ranking offenses and defenses doesn’t just use yardage in league stats like the official rankings. Instead it involves seven categories, including red-zone and third-down efficiency, turnovers, scoring and yards per play.
Using that system the Bears defense is #1 (Tampa Bay is 2nd, the Lions actually rank 4th)
The AER also improves their offensive standing to 22nd. This is due to the Bears’ redzone successes. The Bears and Chargers are tied for second in the league with 9 touchdowns and 2 field goals in 13 trips inside the 20. (But in the interest of full disclosure it should be noted that only 4 teams have fewer trips inside their opponent’s 20-yrd line.)
This is a great chance for the Bears. They'll be catching the Lions a week before Charles Rogers is off suspension and Roy Williams is healthy. The Lions lost Dre Bly and Shaun Rogers doesn't look like he's going to play.
If they rattle Garcia, they win. It's that simple.
October 28, 2005
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