Best Bet: Lions' Defense Will Not Contain Justin Fields' Rushing
The Detroit Lions' defense is keenly aware of the speed and elusiveness of Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
Unfortunately, Fields has been able to find open rushing lanes and carve up Detroit's defense on the ground the past three games.
In Week 14, Detroit will again be tasked with limiting one of the Bears' few offensive weapons.
Play Michigan lead writer Drew Ellis believes Detroit's defense will struggle to limit Fields' rushing ability this week.
"With Frank Ragnow out and conditions possibly being less than ideal due to weekend rain, it’s hard to know what to expect from the Lions’ offense. What I do know is that Justin Fields has been a problem for Detroit with his legs. Over his last three games against the Lions, Fields has rushed for 383 yards," Ellis tells All Lions. "He has run for at least 100 yards in all three games.
"The over/under for rushing yards sits at a modest 62.5 for Fields, but carries a less than ideal -130 line. If you go into alternate rushing props, Fields at 70+ rushing yards sits at +115. There’s great value there, as the Lions have always struggled with mobile quarterbacks. Even if conditions aren’t ideal, that still favors Fields using his legs more often."
Having played the Bears just a couple of weeks ago does give Detroit's coaching staff and roster confidence they have a strong understanding of what their divisional rival is trying to accomplish on both sides of the football.
"There’s a lot of things that haven’t changed, to your point, from when we played them the first time. And, there are some situations that didn’t even come up, our game and Minnesota. And so, you feel like you’ve already kind of seen what that is. Now, they’re coming off a bye. And, they’re like what we are, they see their own issues like, ‘Here’s some things we have to correct.’ So, we’re assuming we’re going to -- we know what they want to be, and we know how they go and where they’re very efficient and they’re dangerous," said Dan Campbell. "They’re not going to go away from that. But, some of these areas where they feel like they can be better, there’s a little unknown here. There is going to be some unknown that we’re going to have to adjust on the fly in this game."
