Tag: Detroit Lions

Rookie expectations: David Blough, Amani Oruwariye preparing to start

The Detroit Lions are about to face off against the Chicago Bears for their annual Thanksgiving Day game. Unfortunately for them, a short week means that injured players have less time to heal and prepare, leaving the rookies to fill their roles.

The Detroit Lions are about to face off against the Chicago Bears for their annual Thanksgiving Day game. Unfortunately for them, a short week means that injured players have less time to heal and prepare, leaving the rookies to fill their roles.

Here’s what to expect from the rookies before Thursday’s game:

Quarterback David Blough

Matthew Stafford has been ruled out.

Jeff Driskel, limited with a hamstring injury, is not expected to play.

Now, the Lions have to rely on undrafted rookie David Blough to lead the offense this Thanksgiving.

The rookie out of Purdue, who the Lions acquired via trade from the Cleveland Browns, has yet to play a snap in a regular-season game. With Cleveland in the 2019 preseason, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns, along with two interceptions.

The level of competition will be much higher than they were in the preseason. The Bears have one of the best defenses in the league at the moment, so the rookie will have a lot to prove.

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Running back Ty Johnson

Johnson’s rookie campaign has slowed down immensely due to Bo Scarborough’s recent successes on offense. Once thought to be the team’s starter, Johnson has taken just 31 snaps on offense since the Lions signed Scarborough two weeks ago, rushing six times for 17 yards and making three receptions for a mere 10 yards.

Facing off against a solid Bears’ run defense that is allowing just 3.7 yards-per-carry this season, Johnson isn’t expected to contribute much on offense this week.

Tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Isaac Nauta

Despite taking the most tight end snaps last week, Hockenson managed to keep his name clear from the box score. He was targeted twice but failed to make a reception on either pass. Expect the team’s first-round pick to start once again, but don’t expect him to make a difference on offense — especially if his shoulder injury continues to be burdensome.

Nauta, who played in his first regular season game last week, took a bulk of his snaps from the fullback position. While only used for a handful of offensive snaps, the rookie tight end showed promise as a run blocker. His ability as a lead blocker could make an impact in Detroit’s run game. Expect the rookie’s role to be limited to fullback and special teams against Chicago.

Offensive lineman Beau Benzschawel

The undrafted rookie was active for the first time in his career on Sunday but never saw the field.  With both Frank Ragnow and Kenny Wiggins being full participants in practice, expect Benzschawel to make his way back to the inactives list.

EDGE Austin Bryant

Bryant’s NFL debut last week showed some promise in his limited action. The rookie was credited with one quarterback pressure, where he was able to make a hit on Washington’s Dwayne Haskins.

With both Trey Flowers and Da’Shawn Hand limited in practice, Bryant may have another opportunity to see the field this week.

Linebacker Jahlani Tavai

The last time the Lions faced the Bears, Tavai walked out of that game with three tackles and a sack. Despite his usage on-field going down drastically in recent weeks, the rookie could still have the chance to make some big plays. He’ll be used in a much more limited role, coming in as an extra linebacker in some situations. Expect the rookie to see the same success he had last time.

Cornerbacks Amani Oruwariye and Michael Jackson

One of the most pleasant surprises of the Lions’ 2019 seasons was the sudden emergence of Amani Oruwariye. After spending most of the season on the bench, the fifth-round pick found himself in the starting lineup against Washington, subbing in for an injured Rashaan Melvin.

In his first full game as a Lion, Oruwariye blanketed receivers, allowing just half of the passes that came his way, with an average passer rating of 18.7 against him.

With Melvin still listed on the injury report, expect this rookie to come in and contribute heavily on defense once again.

Fellow rookie cornerback Michael Jackson received his first snaps as a pro on special teams. If he is active again this week, his role isn’t expected to change.

Safeties Will Harris and C.J. Moore

For the third time this season, rookie Will Harris saw the field for every defensive snap in the game.

While he started the season strong, his skills in coverage have started to look like an issue. He has missed almost a fifth of the tackles he’s attempted this season and has allowed an average of nearly 12 yards-per-completion.

With Tracy Walker limited again with his lingering knee injury, Harris may be starting again this week. Hopefully, his struggles don’t show up in this matchup.

Undrafted rookie C.J. Moore has remained relatively quiet this season on defense but he’s shown some promise on special teams. With injuries at the safety position, expect Moore to be active again this week with a limited role on defense.

The Bears at Lions Week 13 bet line sees drastic shift from opening line

Updating Vegas Watch for Week 13: According to BetMGM, the betting line has shifted from favoring the Detroit Lions to favoring the Chicago Bears.

According to BetMGM, the Detroit Lions (3-7-1) opened the week as 1.5-point favorites over the Chicago Bears (5-6) but the betting line has seen a big shift since then and now favors the Bears by 2.5-points. With both offenses struggling, the over/under has unsurprisingly stayed steady at a low 39.5 points.

Now with the report that third-string undrafted rookie David Blough will start for the Lions, the bet lines have stayed the same but the odds have heavily shifted.

BetMGM has a lot of various bet lines to wager on in this game, but here’s a look the basic concepts most would be interested in, including the Moneyline, points spread and over/under.

Moneyline

Bears -209

Lions +170

Spread

Bears -2.5 (-167)

Lions +2.5 (+140)

Over/Under

Over 39.5 (+115)

Under 39.5 (-139)

Lions Wire editor’s thoughts/predictions

The Lions Wire editors are split on their predictions, in both who wins on Thanksgiving and by how much.

On the latest episode of the Detroit Lions Breakdown podcast, Episode 130, Erik Schlitt discussed why he believes this game favors the Lions and why they will come away with a close 17-14 victory.

Jeff Risdon made his prediction in his Behind Enemy Lines with Bears Wire article saying, “I think a healthy Lions team would roll at home on Thanksgiving, but given the shell of a team the Lions will trot out, it will take a lot of help from the Bears themselves for Detroit to win. Bears 30, Lions 17”

[Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.]

Report: Lions to start David Blough on Thanksgiving

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Detroit Lions are planning to start David Blough on Thanksgiving Day in a Week 13 matchup against the Chicago Bears.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Detroit Lions are planning to start David Blough on Thanksgiving Day in a Week 13 matchup against the Chicago Bears.

With Matthew Stafford ruled out with a fracture in his back and reserve quarterback Jeff Driskel listed as questionable with a hamstring injury, the Lions were utilizing third-stringer Blough on the first team all week during practices.

Blough entered the league via Purdue and caught the Lions’ attention at the East-West Shrine Game, but after going undrafted Blough signed with the Cleveland Browns. Blough went 25 of 43 for 271 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the preseason.

The Lions acquired Blough from the Browns after trading for him at the 53-man roster cutdowns — swapping seventh-round draft picks in the 2021 draft.

If the Lions were to lose Blough during the game on Thursday, the team would turn to tight end Logan Thomas who was a quarterback at Virginia Tech and tried his hand under center in the NFL before making the position switch.

Lions expected to start QB David Blough vs. Bears

The Bears won’t be facing Lions QB Jeff Driskel, who is dealing with a hamstring injury. Instead they’ll face undrafted rookie David Blough.

The Chicago Bears will face an unfamiliar face at quarterback tomorrow against the Detroit Lions.

Third-string quarterback David Blough is expected to start for the Lions on Thanksgiving, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

With Lions starter Matthew Stafford still out with tiny fractures in his back, backup Jeff Driskel has filled in for him over the last three games. But Driskel has been dealing with a hamstring injury in this shortened week. He’s been limited in practice this entire week.

The hamstring injury is enough to sideline Driskel as a starter, but he’ll be available as a backup on Thursday.

The Bears faced Driskel three weeks ago, where the surprise of facing a new quarterback allowed him to utilize his mobility to move the ball on Chicago’s defense.

Blough, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Purdue, was acquired by the Lions from Cleveland following the preseason finale. Blough has received first-team reps during practice this week in preparation.

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NFL games to feature musical acts on Thanksgiving

The Cowboys and Lions have the musical acts set for the halftime performances on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving means three NFL games. It also brings halftime acts to your television that networks feature … for some reason.

The Detroit Lions last year gave us Mike Posner, who went viral for a variety of reasons, not all good. He also got some notice in 2019 when he was walking across the United States and was derailed after being bit by a rattlesnake.

This go-round, Detroit is offering up the Brothers Osborne, a Grammy-nominated country-rock duo. Country music recording artist Jimmie Allen will perform the national anthem.

The Brothers Osborne are singer/songwriter siblings who currently reign as three-time CMA Vocal Duo of the Year in addition to being named ACM Vocal Duo of the Year the past two years. Overall, Brothers Osborne have collected four CMA and five ACM trophies including Video of the Year wins for their Top 10 GRAMMY-nominated Platinum single “It Ain’t My Fault.”

At halftime of the Bills-Cowboys game, Ellie Goulding will perform.

Goulding was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016 for her single “Love Me Like You Do.” This year, she has released three singles in anticipation of her upcoming fourth album.

The Saints-Falcons on NBC will have a big name opening the show.

Atlanta-based multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band headlines NBC Sports’ show open for the Sunday Night Football “Thanksgiving Special” as the New Orleans Saints visit the Atlanta Falcons.

Gathered in Atlanta around a Thanksgiving table with all the trimmings, the special show open begins with Zac Brown receiving a text from Carrie Underwood, the star of NBC’s Sunday Night Football show open, who has the holiday off.

Zac reveals his guitar – strategically placed under the table – and Zac and the guys serve up a classic acoustic holiday version of their 2008 hit “Chicken Fried,” just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

The glass half-empty/glass half-full NFL breakdown: Thanksgiving games

Thanksgiving 2019 can be looked at as great entertainment…or, well, terrible. It ultimately comes down to how you look at the glass.

While we’re all brainwashed—lulled into a comfortable trance by the tranquil voice of Jim Nantz—to believe the Masters is “A tradition unlike any other,” the slate of NFL games on Thanksgiving is the true champion of unique sports experiences.

Thanksgiving NFL games carry so much more than the actual matchup or even outcome. For some, they are an escape from family members or that weird casserole thing, with all the raisins on it, that Aunt Clara made. For others, it’s a chance to digest and catch one’s breath while enjoying a form of holiday-warming nostalgia that harkens back to Pre-Turducken. There are conversations—with minor doses of directed snark—with people you don’t normally talk to: “Well…that’s actually a Cover-4, Bill.”

For many folks, it’s a chance to sleep.

And whatever your reason is for watching (or ignoring) the NFL on Thanksgiving day, I’m sure it’s fantastic. It’s unique, in your particular way—regardless if your team is playing, if your money is swaying, or if you’re simply a fan of all-things Joe Buck. At the end of the day, this proverbial smorgasbord of football consumption ultimately comes down to how you look at it.

Remote, please.

Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions

Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport

Glass Half-Full:

This game, unlike the others, has so much history—it’s matchup No. 180. It’s always great, regardless of the team’s quarterback or shortcomings.

The Bears are coming off a win over the Giants, where Mitch Trubisky looked decent at times, and the defense lived up to its 4th-overall ranking. The Bears won this game last year too, behind a solid effort from Chase Daniel—so, maybe, if Trubisky is ineffective, the memory of yesteryear could be the spark for the offense?

For The Lions, although the team has suffered four consecutive losses, none have been by more than eight points. Like most rivalries such as this, the records don’t factor into the outcome, so you have to like the chances when playing in front of the home crowd.

Glass Half-Empty:

Who is David Blough? You know what, it doesn’t matter. Who lines up under center, for either team, holds about as much importance as whether there’s sausage in the stuffing or not—it’s stuffing.

The Bears barely beat the Giants, and Josh Nagy seems like a befuddled press secretary at this point. The Lions have been hanging on by the fact they ‘barely” lost to basically their entire schedule. Though Matt Patricia and his pencil might make for a cool Halloween costume, it causes nothing but indigestion on more food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving. Sure, the NFC is a somewhat open road, but that doesn’t mean it’s an abandoned parking lot. Change the channel, and let’s see what Hoda is up to!

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Could Cordarrelle Patterson be Bears’ answer at tight end?

Bears versatile weapon Cordarrelle Patterson asked Matt Nagy if he could potentially fill in at the tight end position.

Cordarrelle Patterson is as versatile as they come. He can play wide receiver, kick returner and running back. But what about tight end?

With the Bears thin at the tight end position, could Matt Nagy employ the versatile Patterson as a tight end? It’s not as crazy as it may sound, considering that discussion has gone back to August about the idea, according to Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jason Lieser.

The struggles of the Bears’ tight ends have been well-documented this season, as they’ve been virtually non-existent in this offense.

With Trey Burton on injured reserve and Adam Shaheen and Ben Braunecker ruled out this week, the Bears will turn to Jesper Horsted and JP Holtz at tight end. Patterson has even gone to Nagy to inquire about potentially filling in at the position.

The kick return specialist/receiver/running back is the kind of player that you want to have on the field as often as possible, and given the struggles of the offense — particularly tight ends — this season, why not try Patterson at tight end? The mismatches would be incredible and could open up this offense.

While tight end requires different responsibilities that would require an offseason to learn, Patterson couldn’t possibly be worse than what the Bears have put on the field this season at the tight end position.

Patterson did line up at tight end at times with the New England Patriots last season, so it wouldn’t be entirely new for him.

We’ll see how Nagy ultimately decides to utilize Patterson in this offense on Thursday and in these final five games of the season.

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Lions promote WR Chris Lacy, place WR Marvin Hall on IR

The Detroit Lions announced they have promoted wide receiver Chris Lacy from the practice squad and placed wide receiver Marvin Hall on injured reserve in a corresponding move.

The Detroit Lions announced they have promoted wide receiver Chris Lacy from the practice squad and placed wide receiver Marvin Hall on injured reserve in a corresponding move.

Lacy initially made the Lions 53-man roster after a strong training camp and preseason, but after only seeing the field for five snaps over two games, he was released and re-added to the practice squad in Week 3 of the regular season.

Lacy will step into the Lions fourth wide receiver role but, like earlier in the season, he will need to be looking over his shoulder as the team may want to get an extended look at some of their younger wide receivers currently on the practice squad, namely rookies Travis Fulgham and Tom Kennedy.

When Lacy was released from the Lions active roster, it was Hall who replaced him. Hall wasted no time making an impact on the Lions roster and what he lacked in volume, he made up for in big-play production.

Through his first five catches with Matthew Stafford at the helm, Hall was averaging a stunning 40.2-yards per reception. When Jeff Driskel took over, Hall caught three more passes but saw his per catch average dip to a still impressive 37.3-yards per catch average.

Hall is signed through the 2020 season and figures to enter the offseason as one of the Lions top four options at wide receiver.

Matt Nagy says Bears considering utilizing more no-huddle offense

Given the Bears’ success running the no-huddle offense, Matt Nagy says they’re going to continue to stick with that up-tempo offense.

It’s not often that the Chicago Bears’ struggling offense is in rhythm, but when they’re utilizing the no-huddle offense, they seem to resemble an actual offense.

After the Bears failed to score on their first five possessions last Sunday against the New York Giants, turning to an up-tempo hurry-up offense seemed to breathe life into a lifeless offense.

On the final possession of the first half, Chicago’s offense drove 59 yards on nine plays to set up Eddy Pineiro’s 26-yard field goal with :08 left. On that drive, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed 4 of 5 passes for 42 yards.

Trubisky recognizes the no-huddle offense as a strength of the unit, and coach Matt Nagy recognizes the importance of utilizing that hurry-up offense and wants to implement it more. In fact, the Bears have 101 no-huddle plays this season, which ranks second behind the Arizona Cardinals.

“That’s stuff that we look into,” Nagy continued. “There’s pros and cons to it. It’s always good when it works, and then when it doesn’t work, you’ve got to be careful with that. We like it and we think it’s good, and we know that Mitch feels comfortable in that. And I think our offense does, so we want to definitely keep that going.”

If Trubisky is so comfortable and successful in the no-huddle offense, why aren’t the Bears running it more? Nagy said that it limits the formations and plays that can be called, as well as prevents changing personnel groupings based on down-and-distance.

“What it is is just trying to figure out — whether it’s player-wise, scheme-wise, personnel-wise, play-wise, — what you want to do when you’re in that two-minute, when you’re in that tempo,” Nagy said. “And sometimes the tempo isn’t always where you’re going just mach speed. Sometimes it’s a tempo where you may be snapping the ball with two seconds on the clock. There’s a little bit of making sure that you understand those personnels because it’s not always real simple.”

Then there’s the fact that if you’re implementing a no-huddle offense on a constant basis you run the risk of putting your defense back on the field with limited rest, which has already been an issue for the defense this season.

The Bears need to replicate the execution and tempo that comes with running a hurry-up offense, and they’ll be looking to do that Thursday against the Detroit Lions.

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Bears Week 13 injury designations: 6 players ruled out for Thanksgiving

The Detroit Lions Week 13 opponent, the Chicago Bears, have declared their injury designations and have ruled out 6 players for Thanksgiving.

The Detroit Lions (3-7-1) Week 13 opponent, the Chicago Bears (5-6), have declared their injury designations ahead of their Thanksgiving day matchup at Ford Field.

The Bears only have six players listed on their injury report, but all six are not be cleared to play on Thursday.

Ruled out

WR Taylor Gabriel (concussion)
TE Ben Braunecker (concussion)
TE Adam Shaheen (foot)
RT Bobby Massie (ankle)
LB Danny Trevathan (elbow)
S Sherrick McManis (groin)

Gabriel and Braunecker are both in the league’s concussion protocol and will miss this game. This is good news for the Lions as the last time these two teams faced off, Gabriel and Braunecker each scored a touchdown — two of the three scored by the Bears offense on the day.

Braunecker isn’t the only tight end ruled out for the Bears in this game. Starter Trey Burton was recently placed on injured reserve and reserve Adam Shaheen is also out. The Bears will now turn to their fourth option at tight end — JP Holtz.

Right tackle Bobby Massie is expected to miss several weeks with his ankle injury and the Bears will likely have to turn to former Lion Cornelius Lucas to start in his place.

Starting linebacker Danny Trevathan is the Bears biggest loss on defense and he will be replaced in the starting lineup by Nick Kwiatkoski. Kwiatkoski has nine tackles, a sack, and an interception against the Lions last time out.

McManis was the Bears’ third option at safety, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them lean on their nickel cornerbacks more in this game.