The Detroit Lions are looking everywhere to try and find some momentum in the second half of the season, and they will be trying for their very first win in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day.
At this point, the Lions can’t take anything for granted even as they have played much better in recent weeks and have come closer to a win. The Bears are struggling as well, losers of five straight games. None of that seems to matter in the minds of the oddsmakers, however, leading into the first Thanksgiving game of 2021.
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Even though the Bears are struggling and the Lions seem to have found some life the last two weeks with a tie and a close loss on the road, Chicago is favored in the early line this week by just over a field goal as Mike O’Hara of DetroitLions.com pointed out on Twitter.
Vegas line favors. Bears by 3.5 over Lions on Thanksgiving. Day.
Who ya got?
The fact that Justin Fields is not expected to play could make an impact on this line closer to kickoff, but the fact remains that most folks don’t believe in the Lions having enough to score a win even in spite of that. That’s a dynamic which shows just how bad the team has been during the 2021 season thus far.
Recent Thanksgiving Results Bleak for Lions vs. Bears
Even though the Lions have been playing on the holiday, they have not managed to pick up the wins regularly. The last time Detroit won on Thanksgiving Day was in 2016, a narrow 16-13 victory over Minnesota. The last four seasons, the Lions are 0-4 on the holiday, and have been outscored 118-84. Worse than that, the Lions have had little to play for on the holiday as well. In terms of their recent history against the Bears, it hasn’t been good at all. Chicago has beaten Detroit in two straight games on the holiday and including their most recent win in 2019.
Overall on Thanksgiving, the Lions are 37-42-2 historically. They will be hungry to wash the taste of a lost 2021 season out of their mouth, as well as erase the memories of the last time these teams played. It’s a big chance for the team to rebound and find a win on their special day.
Lions-Bears Primer
The Lions will be looking for a measure of revenge against the Bears, who beat them 24-14 earlier this season at Solider Field. That day, Chicago blasted out to a big lead but had to hold on against Detroit, who was very game in the second half and nearly forged a comeback of epic proportions on the field. Instead of that, though, Detroit fell apart in the end and Chicago scored what would be one of their three wins on the season. Since, things have gone downhill hard for the Bears, as injury problems have piled up at key spots on the offense and defense while the team has lost some very close games in recent weeks. To that end, the Bears aren’t unlike the Lions, who have endured injury problems of their own at quarterback and multiple spots on the offense and defense.
The low line is indicative of how poorly folks expect this game to be for both sides.
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Lions Revealed as Early Underdogs on Thanksgiving Day vs. Bears