Three Keys Against the Lions: Offense

1) Get Off The Bus... Getting the Ball to Matt Forte.

Whether it be running the ball or receiving it, Matt Forte is a beast. We all know the numbers he's put up this year, one guy around here even does a weekly post dedicated to it, so I won't get into that. But let's look a little deeper at some of the numbers.

Against the Lions in his career, Forte's put up a 5.25 YPC on the ground with 3 touchdowns and 87.7 yards per game, and another 12.78 yards per reception with another three touchdowns and 42.0 yards per game through the air - if you're scoring at home, that's 129.7 yards per game.

Now let's factor in the Lions' porous run defense that ranks 16th in attempts faced yet 29th in yards allowed and 31st in yards per rush - this includes a loss to San Francisco when the Lions allowed 203 yards on the ground and a win against the Broncos where their only avenue of moving the ball was on the ground. In Week 5 Forte picked up 116 yards on 22 carries and 35 yards on 4 receptions, but was held out of the end zone. 

2) Protect Jay Cutler with Rollouts, Draws, and Extra Defenders

Yeah, I know, that's two things that I could probably put in every Three Keys post. I'm not naive enough to say what worked against Philly will work against Detroit, as Detroit's pass rush is far more balanced than Philly's is. But the Bears have allowed only three sacks since the last game against Detroit... in which they allowed three sacks. Detroit has a very good front four, but for perspective, the Lions have 24 sacks. Philly had 22 and Minnesota also had 24, so these aren't exactly horsebleep pass rush units the Bears have been dealing with two of the last three weeks. Jay's gotten out of the pocket more, especially against Philly; Forte's been used better; the Bears have kept additional men in to protect when needed, and this all needs to continue down the road.

3) Work the short/underneath throws

Quick, name the receiving yardage leader for the Bears in Week 5. Dane Sanzenbacher, 6 receptions, 64 yards. When Earl Bennett came back against Philly, that was his role, and he filled it for 5 receptions and 95 yards. The Lions' defensive unit is very similar to the Eagles' in a sense - good defensive line and pass rush, decent secondary unit, and a weaker linebacker corps. I'd be willing to expect a similar workload for Bennett again this week, along with Kellen Davis, who scored a touchdown in the week five matchup.