5Q: Lions Looking to Avoid Thanksgiving Trap

Previewing Lions-Bears Thanksgiving game with Bears beat writer.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18). / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Gene Chamberlain covers the Chicago Bears for Bears OnSI. He recently answered five questions from Lions OnSI to preview the Thanksgiving matchup between the Lions and Bears on Thursday.

1. What has been your evaluation of Caleb Williams through the first 11 games of his NFL career?

Gene Chamberlain: He has been exactly what you should expect in a rookie quarterback. However, there were many people who expected him to arrive ready to take over an NFL offense and this was never going to be the case. When offensive coordinator Shane Waldron turned out to be a bad fit, it slowed Williams' early development. He never could have been ready to play the Vikings and Packers back-to-back under Waldron but in two weeks new OC Thomas Brown has him figured out and is connecting with him, and he'll be fun to watch from here on out. The arm, the savvy and ability to play at the end of tight games are all there. The Chicago Bears have a quarterback regardless of what happens Thursday. It's been more and more obvious with each day if you looked past the occasional struggle earlier. It's still hard to believe they finally found one.

2. With Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson, the Bears have multiple players with high-level talent on defense. Who is an under-the-radar defender who could give Detroit's offense problems on Thursday?

Chamberlain: DT Gervon Dexter. He actually has stats comparable to or a little better than Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter this year, his second season, and can be a lot to handle for the left guard or right guard as a pass rusher. If he can manage a consistent, big rush on Jared Goff, the Bears could stay in this game for a while. The problem with him against the Lions is he has yet to figure out how to be a 3-technique in run defense and it shows in how poor the Bears have been at stopping the run compared to last year. He gets out of his gap and they get gashed. They rank 20th after being No. 1 stopping the run last year. Their run defense was the chief reason they outplayed Detroit in two games last year.

3. What is your assessment of Matt Eberflus' performance as head coach and what would a victory on Thanksgiving do for his security as the head coach of the Bears?

Chamberlain: He does a very good job as a defensive play caller.

4. What are 1-2 key matchups to watch for?

Chamberlain: Sweat against Penei Sewell. It will be interesting if the two go against each other one-on-one, or if there is a lot of chipping involved. David Montgomery is a good blocker but if the Lions can handle Sweat with one man, then they can keep Montgomery in to help on Dexter or anyone else who would come through at Goff. Sewell is so good they may just want to keep it a one-on-one situation, but something else to watch is Eberflus moving Sweat to the other side of the line. They talked about this in training camp, messed with it some but haven't done a lot of it. The other key is DJ Moore against the Lions' outside cornerbacks. It took a while, but he and Williams finally seem to be building a better connection the last few weeks.

5. Who wins and why?

Chamberlain: The Lions should win 31-17. The Bears defense is fading badly. Losing Jaquan Brisker indefinitely to his third concussion in three seasons and run stopper Andrew Billings to IR with a pec tear has left them vulnerable against the run. Brisker was their best DB in run support. Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs should run and catch passes short against the Bears zone before turning upfield for good yardage all game long. This is a poor matchup for the Bears now because they're no longer a ball-control offense. When Justin Fields was there, they matched up better with a team like the Lions by keeping the ball a long time and keeping the Lions offense on the sidelines. But Fields was never going to win more than nine games with all his problems getting rid of the ball fast enough. The Bears will be more dangerous in the future when they've added a lineman or two to protect Williams better and probably another receiver to replace free agent Keenan Allen.Oh, and a coach.