Halas Intrigue Bears Report: Previewing Week 10 vs. the Lions

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford throws against the Giants during a game last month.

The good: Bears running back Mike Davis vows to stay positive despite his uncertain future with the team.

The bad: Tarik Cohen has been pretty quiet this season, which seems to be emblematic of the Bears’ offensive woes.

The ugly: The TV talking heads have apparently been too mean to the Bears, so Mitch Trubisky wants the televisions in Halas Hall turned off. Though coach Matt Nagy thought his quarterback was being tongue in cheek.

Let’s get to it ...

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Offense: Confidence Game

Thanks to high expectations and low performance this season, QB Mitch Trubisky has been facing a lot of criticism.

The Bears have gone out of their way to make sure Trubisky is feeling good about himself, likes himself and knows that everybody at Halas Hall has the utmost confidence in him. It’s not like he forgot how to play football. He’s just not playing it very well right now.

Did you know?

RB David Montgomery leads the Bears with 13 broken tackles while rushing, according to Pro Football Reference.
QB Mitch Trubisky had one of his best games as a pro against Detroit at Soldier Field last November. He completed 23 of 30 passes for 355 yards, three TDs, no interceptions and a 148.6 rating in a 34-22 victory.
The Bears’ offense continues to struggle at the start, punting on their first possession in seven of the eight games. The exception came in the win over the Vikings in Week 4, when they went 75 yards for a touchdown.

Defense: Getting In Too Much Work

The Bears are 25th in the NFL at 28:34 time of possession per game. They’ve gone 561 snaps on defense, compared to 509 for the offense. That’s close to an extra game worth of work defensively.

Did you know?

With the Bears possessing the ball just 19:42 last Sunday against the Eagles, they logged a season-high 89 defensive snaps.
Lions QB Matthew Stafford has thrown for 4,741 yards, 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 18 games against the Bears.
Lions WR Kenny Golladay is tied with Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans for the league lead with seven receiving touchdowns, and teammate Marvin Jones has six TD receptions.

Special Teams: Long Shots

The Lions lead the league with five field goals of 50 yards or more this season, according to Pro Football Reference. Bears K Eddy Pineiro is 2-for-2 from at least 50 yards.

Did you know?

Bears WR Cordarrelle Patterson and Lions CR Jamal Agnew are two of the four players this season to return a kickoff for a touchdown.

What They’re Saying

Mitch Trubisky might be catching a lot of grief in Chicago, but he’s getting plenty of respect from the Lions. “This guy, he’s a good player,” Lions coach Matt Patricia insisted. “He’s athletic, he’s strong, he can get out of trouble, he can extend plays, he can scramble, he can run, he can throw. He’s got deep balls, he’s got great skill guys, so that’s the major issue that we have to deal with. He’s a great player, and we got to start there.”
Lions G Joe Dahl, who had been dealing with an ankle injury, returned to practice on Thursday.

From Our Notebooks

Our experts are split over the Bears’ fate on Sunday. Here are their picks.
Matt Nagy stayed mum on possibly having offensive linemen Cody Whitehair and James Daniels switch positions.
NBC decided to keep the Bears in prime time for their Nov. 17 game against the Rams. That Chicago and Los Angeles are two of the top television markets probably had something to do with that decision.

What’s Next?

The Bears head to the West Coast for the Sunday Night Football game against the Rams. They will face the Giants at home the following Sunday before again playing the Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving.

On the Podcast

In the latest edition of Halas Intrigue, the hosts discuss if the Bears offense is bringing down Tarik Cohen, or vice versa.

Listen here.

Also, got any questions for the Bears? Email us or tweet at @suntimes_sports and we’ll see if we can get them answered in one of our next newsletters.

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