Bears - Lions Preview: Should we be worried?
In a word, no. I don't know about that spread, Bears are presently favored by 8.5, but I'm pretty certain the Bears are going to win this game. Why? Because Roy Williams guaranteed a victory. What a tool. Roy's a talented player, but pretty much everyone in the press is having fun with this one. To paraphrase Michael Wilbon from PTI, "Hey Roy, why don't you have a big catch that actually means something in your career before you go and guarantee victories." Couldn't have said it better myself.
Don't get me wrong, the Bears are certainly beatable. I think this will be a low-scoring contest, and if Grossman turns the ball over in the red zone the Bears are doomed. Call me stupid, but I believed his explanation for last week's end zone pick. He was trying to throw it away to avoid a sack and got caught throwing off his back foot. Thus, under-thrown and into Nick Barnett's hands. Ok, Bears won by 26 points. No biggee. Do it again, though, and my attitude will change a bit.
Speaking of red zone offense, in an attempt to looking for something negative to write about, a lot of the local publications/bloggers have harped on the fact that the Bears stalled four times in the red zone. I, for one, am not too worried about it. I'd be far more worried if they never made it to the red zone. For whatever reason, the running game just hasn't gotten going yet. The running backs and line are too good to be held back for long. In the meantime, Grossman is going to have to find his big targets and put sixes on the board.
So what's up with the Lions? A lot. New coach. New coordinators. New quarterbacks. They looked much improved over last year's Joey Harrington disaster in their week one loss to the Seahawks. The defense looked especially strong in shutting down the Shaun Alexander and the Seabags. The offense struggled some, but still seemed more efficient with John Kitna under center. I think they're fully capable of winning 8 or 9 games this season, though I wouldn't exactly put money on a playoff appearance at this point.
Prediction time. Bears 13, Lions 10. They won't cover the spread, but they'll squeak out a W in the home opener.