There’s no nice way to put it: the Bears haven’t had the best fortune in overcoming the Lions in recent years. Chicago’s NFC North rival has won nine of the last 10 meetings with the Bears. They’ve done that in large part due to sustained quarterback consistency in the form of Matthew Stafford, while the Bears have run through a few head coaches, occasional organizational turmoil, and the like.

2018 could be the beginning of a shift in Bears-Lions’ legend to that end. Both franchises have new head coaches in Matt Nagy and Matt Patricia. Both are looking to dramatically shift the performance of one side of the ball: Nagy with the Bears’ offense and Mitchell Trubisky, and Patricia with the porous Lions’ defense. If all goes well for both men, this heated divisional matchup is about to become much more intriguing.

To break down Detroit’s 2018 off-season happenings, Mansur Shaheen of Bird Breakdowns and The Lions Wire joined me on the newest WCG Radio. We discussed whether Matthew Stafford gets enough respect, broke down how the new-look Bears could attack the Lions and find success, and went all in with objective facts all bias on World Cup picks.

Click on the BlogTalk link below for this episode, and find every other episode of WCG Radio in the attached player.

BlogTalk Radio

On this episode of WCG Radio

• Matt Patricia: His approach and concerns
• Matthew Stafford has been one of the NFL’s best QB’s for years now, but the Lions haven’t given him the same support. Where do they have to change? What does Stafford need to do to get respect (if it matters)?
• How big of an Achilles heel is the Lions’ pass rush? Other areas of concern on Detroit’s roster?
• The next step for Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, and Kenny “BabyTron” Golladay as a receiving trio
• NFC North more competitive than ever: how the Lions stay afloat in the NFL’s likely best division
• Free agency review: The “DeShawn Shead Redemption”
• Draft review (Frank Ragnow and a running back by committee)
• Bears-Lions 2018 preview: whether the Bears have done enough to turn the tide
• World Cup knockout predictions, heavy on the Liverpool bias

Robert Zeglinski is the Bears beat writer for The Rock River Times, an editor for Windy City Gridiron and Inside The Pylon, and is a contributor to Pro Football Weekly and The Athletic Chicago. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.