This should be a fascinating football game on Sunday afternoon. The Bears are changing QBs after a slow start on offense but most eyes will be on a defense decimated by injury. The Lions will look to rebound at home after getting blitzed 56-21 in Philadelphia last week.

The Bears would like to get back to the offense that worked so well for them last season. That means running the football against a Lions defense that is allowing 129.3 yards rushing and 4.3 yards per carry. The Bears must protect the football and control the clock because the defense is really banged up and the Lions do have an explosive offense. Cedric Benson has not played well this season as he has carried the football 59 times for 189 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD run and 2 lost fumbles. If Benson continues to struggle this week the Bears probably won’t hesitate replacing him with Adrian Peterson (15 car, 64 yards). If the offensive line gives Brian Griese enough time to throw the ball he will exploit the Lions defense with short, crisp passes. Look for Griese to get Mushin Muhammad (4 rec, 36 yards) and the TEs Greg Olson (2 rec, 28 yards) and Desmond Clark (9 rec, 125 yards) more involved in the passing game. They won’t forget their best receiver this season, Bernard Berrian (16 rec, 221 yards) who is better on the deep patterns when he can run by defenders because he doesn’t like contact. The Lions do allow 278.7 yards passing per game but the Bears don’t want to engage in a shootout.

The Lions are all about passing the football, so the Bears must get a good pass rush to protect their secondary. If Jon Kitna has time to throw the ball the Bears could be in some trouble. The Bears secondary as it stands now does not match up at all with the receiving corps of the Lions. Roy Williams (335 yards), Shaun McDonald (237 yards), Mike Furrey (155 yards) and rookie Calvin Johnson (189 yards) will make the Bears pass dearly if they can’t get to Kitna. Kitna was sacked 9 times last week by the Eagles so look for the Bears to send Brian Urlacher often on the blitz and they hope DE Mark Anderson can get in the backfield causing Kitna to make some mistakes. The Bears have a solid run defense as they allow only 92.7 yards rushing per game and 3.3 yards per carry. But the Lions only run the ball when they are trying to trick the defense.

PREDICTION: Look for this to be a close game that could go either way. I will side with the Bears by a field goal in this game because Brian Griese will protect the football.