Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions: TV, Radio, Betting Trends

How to watch Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game between the Bears and Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit with key statistics and betting trends.

Gene Chamberlain

WR DJ Moore scores against the Detroit Lions last year in a 31-26 Bears loss.
WR DJ Moore scores against the Detroit Lions last year in a 31-26 Bears loss. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

Chicago Bears (4-7) at Detroit Lions (10-1)

Kickoff: 11:30 a.m., Thursday

Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Mich.

TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

National Radio: Westwood One (Jason Benetti, Ryan Leaf)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: Lions by 10 1/2, over/under 48 ½ (Fan Duel)

The Series: The 189th game between the teams. The Bears lead 105-78-5. The Lions lead 48-44-1 in Detroit. The Bears won the last game 28-13 at Soldier Field. Detroit won at Ford Field last year 31-26. The Bears have won the last four games on Thanksgiving Day between the teams.

The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 14-31 in his third season with the team and 1-3 against the Lions. His teams are 3-18 in road games.
Lions coach Dan Campbell is 39-34-1 in his fourth season with Detroit and fifth as an NFL head coach. His record includes a 5-7 record as Miami interim coach in 2015. His team won the NFC North last year. He is 3-3 against the Bears.

Last Week: Bears QB Caleb Williams led a late comeback bid with a touchdown drive, then an onside kick recovery and a 48-yard Cairo Santos field goal to force overtime but Chicago lost 30-27 on a 29-yard field goal by Parker Romo. Williams threw for 340 yards on 32 of 47 with two TDs and no interceptions. He has now thrown 193 straight passes without an interception.

Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 90 yards and two TDs and David Montgomery for 37 yards and a TD to lead Detroit to a 24-6 over the Indianapolis Colts.  QB Jared Goff threw for 269 yards on 26 of 36. The Lions held the Colts to 96 yards rushing.

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WHY MATT EBERFLUS CAN'T BE COUNTED OUT WITH 1% PLAYOFF CHANCE

The Matchup:  The Bears try to end a five-game losing streak after two strong passing games from Williams with Thomas Brown as offensive coordinator. The Lions are looking to win on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2016.With the playoffs all but out of the question, the Bears are operating in the unknown as no one can be certain of the future of the coaching staff. Could they save the jobs of the staff yet with a strong finish? And is something like this even possible against the Lions, who have the best record in football. The Bears have two games left with the Lions. The Bears controlled play in both games with Detroit last year by holding the ball and running it but D’Andre Swift and the running game haven’t been as effective as last year’s ground game, which had a running threat with QB Justin Fields. The Lions lost edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a broken fibula and tibia and have replaced him with trade acquisition Za’Darius Smith, who has half a sack. The Lions bring the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 2 scoring defense into the game.

Of Note: Williams has set a new Bears rookie passing record with 2,356 yards. He needs one TD pass for 12 to set the rookie TD passing record.  If Williams goes without an interception in this game, it  will be his sixth straight game without one, the longest stretch by a rookie since Charlie Batch in 1998. … Punter Tory Taylor needs one punt downed inside the 20 to set a Bears rookie record for this statistic. … The Bears are 20-15-2 all time on Thanksgiving. Their last Thanksgiving game came in 2021 when they beat Detroit 16-14. … Detroit averages 12.6 more points per game more than the Bears at 32.7 points per game.  … The two teams are tied for third in NFL turnover differential at plus-9. … The Bears rank sixth in scoring after takeaways with 64 points. … Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown, David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs have all scored TDs in the same game eight times, the most by any trio in NFL history. The Lions are 8-0 in those games. … Jared Goff is the only QB in NFL history with multiple games with 400+ passing yards and a perfect passer rating. … RB Gibbs owns the NFL record with six straight games owning a 5.0-yard average.

Next Week: The Bears travel to San Francisco for a Sunday, Dec. 8 game at 3:25 p.m.

The Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7:15 p.m.

Bears and Lions Betting Trends

  • The Lions are 15-3 against the spread in their last 18 against NFC North teams
  •        The Lions are 8-1 ATS in their last nine games
  • ·       The under has been the play in four of the last five Bears games  
  • ·       The Lions are 5-17 straight up in Thanksgiving games since 2000

-Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change

-If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.