Windy City Gridiron picks Bears-Lions

The first time the Bears faced the Lions this season proved to be quite the thriller. After falling behind 23-6 and largely amassing nothing on the offensive side of the ball, Chicago scored 21 unanswered points in the final stanza to steal an unlikely victory. An already silent and empty Ford Field was somehow left even more blunted and stunned.

For Chicago it was an epic, if unexpected comeback, spurred by Mitchell Trubisky, Anthony Miller, and Allen Robinson. For the Lions it was a solid, stifling start which ended up being marked as a deflating collapse. Matthew Stafford and Co. had seemingly done their jobs, until the job turned out to be unfinished and downright messy.

Two and a half months later and these two division rivals could not be more in precarious positions. The Lions will finish the 2020 campaign without general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia, who were summarily fired after winning a mere 13 games together since 2018. As Darrell Bevell manages in the interim, Detroit now seeks its third head coach in the last four seasons.

Meanwhile, the seats of the Bears’ collective brain trust could not be any hotter. A 41-25 complete drubbing at the hands of the Packers on Thanksgiving night has Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy’s collars becoming ever so tighter. The general manager-head coach duo that started their tenure together with an NFC North title in 2018 is now staring down the barrel of a second consecutive missed postseason and even worse, outright mediocrity.

Anything less than a stellar finish to the year potentially spells out inevitable doom for Pace and Nagy. A thorough disappointment, to be sure, considering what the future portended only two seasons ago.

Windy City Gridiron picks Bears-Lions and every other NFL game this week.

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