Justin Rogers, Rod Beard, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their predictions on the outcome of Sunday’s Lions vs. Bears game at Ford Field (1 p.m., Fox/760).
►Justin Rogers: Early in the week, I was ready to forecast a Lions victory. These teams were close last season and Detroit made clearer offseason upgrades. But the injury situation, particularly Kenny Golladay’s hamstring, has me second-guessing the result. Bears 23, Lions 20
►Rod Beard: The Lions are solid on offense and the Bears are very good on defense. If the game comes down to the Bears’ offense being better than the Lions’ defense, that would be something. Somehow, they’ll figure out a way and eke out their first season-opening win since 2017. Lions 21, Bears 20
►John Niyo: Matt Patricia is 0-4 in his Lions tenure against Matt Nagy and the Bears. But both of last year’s losses came with backup quarterbacks under center, and there’s no comparison to the offense we saw before and after Matthew Stafford’s injury in 2019. It’s also worth noting the Bears haven’t won a season opener since 2013. That streak continues while Patricia’s mercifully ends. Lions 30, Bears 21
►Bob Wojnowski: This is a fine first test of the Lions’ offensive potential, with their revamped line and running game. The Bears have a top-five defense and added Robert Quinn to the Khalil Mack-led group, and have knocked the Lions around with four straight wins. But Matthew Stafford missed both games last season, and if he’s on a mission, we’ll see pretty quickly. I also think we’ll see Adrian Peterson pretty quickly, and he’ll be productive. Lions 24, Bears 16