Calvin Johnson finished just 16 yards short of having 1,000 receiving yards. He played a good game and made several big plays, including a 4th down catch that moved the chains. He caught 6 passes for 86 yards and 1 TD.

Daunte Culpepper had a decent game for a change. The results were the same as the Lions lost to the Bears and finished the season with just 2 wins and 14 losses. That means the Rams, who also lost today, will draft #1 overall and the Lions will have the #2 pick. So will the Rams take a QB, or will they take Suh? The candidates for the #1 spot at QB will be Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame and Sam Bradford from Oklahoma. If the Rams don't take a QB there is little doubt they will take Ndamukong Suh with the #1 overall pick.

What will the Lions be left with at #2? Well, they need a DT or LT badly. Gerald McCoy, a DT from Oklahoma, or Russell Okung, a OT from Oklahoma State would be good picks at the #2 Spot. There are other options the Lions can look at, and they will look at everything.

The Lions can trade up and take Suh with the #1 overall pick but I think they don't because thyey would have to give up too much to move up one spot. The idea of building a team is to keep all the picks you have and try to get more. That leads to the next option the Lions will look at.

The Lions may try to trade back in the draft for 2 first round picks. I think this would be the best approach and could fill two holes on the team. In an uncapped year there might be a team looking for just that right player to put the team in the playoffs. The last piece. Such a team would trade up for a player like Suh or even Clausen if that is what they were looking for.

Ok , many fans think the Chicago Bears are struggling right now. The run game isn't going as planned , and Jay Cutler has thrown 5 interceptions. The Bears had to come from behind against the Seattle Seahawks for a win , they were behind 19 - 17 , and Cutler hit Devin Hester for the winning touchdown pass. To me , it looks like Jay Cutler is finding a rhythm with his new offense. He is now a veteran quarterback going into his fourth regular season game with the Bears , so I expected that. Cutler has 6 touchdowns after 3 games , thats a 2 TD a game average. The most touchdowns Cutler has thrown for in a season was 25 last season , he is on pace to eclipse that mark. He has also thrown for 760 yards , and has a QB rating of 86.2%. Cutler is still prone to throwing bad passes under pressure , so I expect to see Gunther Cunningham call some blitzes in this game.

The rushing game of the Bears isn't very good right now , they have rushed for a total of 215 yards. This affects the 3rd down performance of almost any offense , and the Bears are 15 for 41 on 3rd down conversions. The Lions have some hope here , the Bears also do not control time of posession , and their average rush is for 2.8 yards. The Bears also have 0 rushing TDs on the year after 3 games.

The Bears defense has also scored 0 TDs this season , but they do have 9 sacks on the year. This could cause problems for Matthew Stafford , and I think this game is a much better indicator of where the offensive line is at for the Detroit Lions. The Bears have 2 interceptions on defense this year , that might change this week if one looks at the sack total and takes into account that this is a road game at Soldier Field for the rookie QB Matthew Stafford. I could see Stafford throwing 1 interception in this game. I don't think thats a bad performance given the context of the game. One of the keys to the game , as I see it , not allowing the Bears defense to score on any turnovers. That is what makes the Bears a good team , points by the defense.

The Lions offense needs to continue on the well balanced path Scott Linehan has them traveling. I would like to see Brandon Pettigrew become more involved in the passing game , so far he isn't. If the Lions can throw to Pettigrew that would take pressure off Calvin Johnson , and the Bears defense wouldn't think run when Pettigrew lined up. This could open the door a little more for the running game. Unfortunately , Kevin Smith hurt his shoulder against the Redskins , and the Lions are not telling how bad the injury is. I think Kevin Smith might miss 2 to 4 weeks with a seperated shoulder. Smith had shoulder problems last season , and played through them , as revealed by his agent. That means its time to step up Maurice Morris. Thats why you are here. Jerome Felton should also see some extra carries. Bottom line , the Lions should be able to run the ball against the Bears , and if they get inside the red zone , I could see Felton with his first rushing touchdown this year.

Matthew Stafford has bad numbers , but they don't tell the whole story. He has thrown for 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Stafford threw half his touchdowns against the Redskins , and threw o interceptions. That tells me he is improving by leaps and bounds. He managed the game very well , and was able to sustain several long drives on offense. He has a total of 598 passing yards , and a QB rating of 57%. This is the time for Stafford to get it going with the receivers , I could see 2 TD passes in this game. Its also a road game for a rookie QB against a defense that has 9 sacks , so there could be an interception there too.

Keys:
Pettigrew in passing game
Felton in running game
Stafford limiting mistakes
Defense against Cutler and the passing game

Wow , this is a close game if one really looks at it. Thing is , this is a road game at soldier field. Stafford will see pressure.

Bears 24
Lions 21

Lets first examine where each team stands in offensive and defensive ranking. We can then use that information to determine how each team will attack the other.

Redskins offense rank
31st in points
19th in total yards
18th in passing yards
18th in rushing yards

Redskins defensive rank
7th in points allowed
10th in yards allowed
11th in passing yards allowed
17th in rushing yards allowed

Lions offensive rank
17th in points
30th in total yards
26th in passing yards
24th in rushing yards

Lions Defensive rank
32nd in points allowed
27th in yards allowed
24th in passing yards allowed
22nd in rushing yards allowed

 
Redskins QB Jason Campbell completed his first 10 throws of the game and finished 23-of-28 for 328 yards and a touchdown on October 26th , 2008. He got the game ball. That was the last game the Lions played the Redskins , also a home game for Detroit.

Clinton Portis isn't on the downside yet , Lions fans , he ran for 79 yards last week against the Rams , on 19 carries , a 4.5 yards per carry average. He is still a running back the Lions need to keep track of in the Redskins offense.

Last week against the Rams , Campbell threw for 249 yards , going 23 for 35 with no TDs and no INTs. He has thrown 1 TD pass and 1 INT , both in week 1 of the regular season. Last week against the Rams , Devin Thomas dropped a touchdown pass. Mike Sellers dropped a touchdown pass. Santana Moss killed a late drive in the first half with a fumble that was awarded to the St. Louis Rams after an instant-replay review.

The Redskins look like one team between the 20-yard lines and another in the red zone. Make that the dead zone. I expect that to change this week , the Redskins are better than the final score is showing us.

If Matthew Stafford has any untimely turnovers the Redskins will be a team primed to take advantage of them , the defense could get into the scoring act too.

The Detroit Lions have a better rushing attack than passing attack at this point in the season , and the Redskins don't defend the run as well as they do the pass. I expect the Lions to stick with the running game , and limit the amount of times Stafford has to throw the ball. Campbell threw 28 times last year for over 300 yards , what the Lions need to do at this point is to make the passing game become more effective with fewer attempts. The Redskins have the 11th best passing defense in the NFL , so its time to get Brandon Pettigrew involved in the offense. I look for Kevin Smith to have a good game this week , (I usually do) , with at least 100 yards rushing.

Will Maurice Morris get more than 2 carries this week? This bears watching , because for a running back thats not injured , his only 2 carries of the year came against the Vikings. He could play a key role in keeping Kevin Smith fresh during the game , if he played more.

I could see the Lions defense allowing a good passing day for Campbell before I could see the 11th best passing defense allow Stafford to have a good day. The Redskins seem to be lacking points , which means they have problems inside the red zone. If rookie linebacker DeAndre Levy gets the start for the Lions at outside LB , then Campbell and the Redskins offense will go at him in the air , with a tight end in routes. I expect the Redskins to score in this game , at least 28 points.

The Lions might struggle once again to sustain drives if Stafford can't lead this offense. I could see the Lions scoring 14 points against the Redskins. I don't think Stafford gets any touchdown passes this week , but there are things that could change that during the game. If Special teams could break a few long punt or kickoff returns , giving Stafford a short field , then the Liond don't have to sustain those long drives.

Ok , final score:
Redskins 28
Lions 14