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Five things to watch as Detroit Lions host Chicago Bears; plus prediction

While the season is more than half over, the Lions are prepping to play just their second divisional game when they host the Chicago Bears at Ford Field on Sunday.

Sitting atop the NFC North at 7-2, the Lions are obviously in a good spot but they see a rising team in the Bears (3-7). And they know the division title is not a lock yet especially with the Vikings winning five straight.

“If you aspire to win the division, you have to win your division games. That’s the bottom line and we’ve only – we’ve got one under our belt and this is number two. So, it’s as simple as that,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “You don’t know how these games are going to unfold. You don’t know how the season’s going to entirely unfold at the end, but certainly, you better have a majority of the division wins if that’s what you plan on doing. So, it’s that – I always say they count for two. This is like winning two games a little bit when you play these division games. So, it’s important, it’s important. It’s a conference game and more importantly, it’s a division game.”

Lions quarterback Jared Goff said the Bears remind him of the Lions when they went on their big season-ending run last year.

“I think they’re a whole lot better than their record shows. They’ve been banged up a little bit throughout the year and getting their quarterback back now and have done some really good things on defense, so we’ll have our hands full,’’ Goff said.

Justin Fields, coming off a dislocated thumb, is expected to start after missing four games.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH:

1. Lions must pressure quarterback Justin Fields, who is expected to return after missing four games with a fractured thumb. The mobile quarterback is always a threat even though he hasn’t been running as much this season. “(He) brings a whole other element to the game we haven’t seen in a while,’’ Campbell said. The Bears were 1-5 when he started the first six games. He had 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.

2. Overall the Lions defense must improve over the way it played in the 41-38 win at the Chargers on Sunday. Certain issues must be corrected. “Communication, to me, was the biggest piece of it. It’s not about the plays being made when they happen,’’ Campbell said. “Just like last week we know that’s a good offense and a good quarterback, you want to know if something comes up it wasn’t because of us – a communication error on a few plays.’’

3. The Lions run game has been on fire with 200 rushing yards against the Chargers and 220 against the Raiders in the past two games. The Bears’ rushing defense is ranked second in the NFL, allowing just 76 rushing yards per game while the Lions’ rushing offense is ranked fourth averaging 139 yards per game. “They’ve got length, they’ve got size, they’ve got quickness, they move a ton,’’ Campbell said of the Bears’ rushing defense. “This is a stunning defense. They’ve got a ton of different looks coverage-wise, and I think when you’re able to play multiple coverages, you have length, you play with speed and you move, it creates problems. It can create problems. If we can’t handle their movement upfront, it’ll be one of those long days for us.’’ With David Montgomery’s return and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs’ maturation they should be fine, but yards on the ground could be tough to come by.

4. Expect Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to call the same aggressive game that has brought them so much success. Johnson said against the Chargers, it felt like almost anything was going to work. “So that’s really a credit to the guys. It’s less the plays, it’s more the style of play. Those guys played hard from play one all the way until the end and were able to put up some yards and some points, which was great,” Johnson said. “And we kind of talked last week that some guys were going to be unhappy because we’ve got so many mouths to feed and, fortunately we were able to feed quite a few of them.’’

5. Veteran pass-rusher Bruce Irvin, 36, who was signed to the practice squad this week won’t be active on Sunday. After a workout for the team, Campbell said Irvin has superhuman genes. While he’s in great shape he wasn’t in football shape. “We want to be smart about this, let’s see where he goes,’’ Campbell said on Friday. “Just getting him in football shape is important. I don’t think you want to throw anybody out there and set him up for disaster with an injury when they’re not quite ready. I don’t see him being up this week.’’ Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said they will build different packages for Irvin and also in base he operates the SAM linebacker role.

INJURIES: DT Isaiah Buggs (illness) and LG Jonah Jackson (wrist/ankle) are out; S Ifeatu Melifonwu (hand) is questionable.

ROSTER MOVES: DL Quinton Bohanna and OL Connor Galvin were elevated from the practice squad on Saturday.

PREDICTION: Lions 24, Bears 10. While the Bears should put up a good fight, they don’t have the talent to match the Lions at Ford Field.

Lions WR Jameson Williams ‘in a good place’ as he continues to earn trust

ALLEN PARK — Jameson Williams is still a work in progress, but Lions coach Dan Campbell likes what he is seeing from the wide receiver. He’s not a rookie, but the win over the Chargers was just his 11th NFL game due to injuries and a four-game NFL suspension to start this season.

“He’s improving, he feels like he’s one of the guys now, and he’s part of the team, he’s one of the guys, he’s putting in a good day’s work, he’s physical, he’s tough, the more he earns his stripes here the more opportunities he gets,’’ Campbell said on Wednesday.

So far Williams has eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown (a 45-yard pass play in the win over the Bucs).

Williams had just two catches for 18 yards against the Chargers, but his most impressive plays were the blocks he set as running back David Montgomery ran 75 yards downfield for a touchdown.

“Every time he makes a block like he does or he runs the routes, he makes the catches, he gains the trust of everyone around and it just keeps going and going, his comfort level, his confidence level is going up,’’ Campbell said.

Blocking is an artform of sorts and Williams is learning.

“He’s developing, it’s all about the timing of when you’ve got to get there, so it goes back to the same thing with the zone stuff,’’ wide receivers coach Antwaan Randel El said on Wednesday. “Are you taking the right angles to get the blocks? He’s had to see it, get a couple reps at it to understand our offense and how it looks. … He’s been doing a much better job at that. We always say we need every guy.’’

As a first-round pick in 2022, much is expected from Williams. In the last six games in 2022, he had one catch (on nine targets) for a touchdown. He famously said during the 2023 training camp, “No block, no rock.” So he knows blocking is expected in the run game, along with the pass game.

Randle El said his production will increase.

“It’s a matter of time. He’s getting better, he’s excited about not just catching the ball, he’s excited about being where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there, about blocks for his teammates and stuff like that,’’ Randle El said. “Selflessness is coming out — he wants to do more for the team.’’

NEXT UP: Chicago Bears (3-7) at Lions (7-2) at 1 p.m.. on Sunday at Ford Field.

Lions Dan Campbell credits O-line for setting tone in offensive explosion in win at Chargers

Offensive vision coming to life as season unfolds

ALLEN PARK — Coach Dan Campbell said the Lions offense played their best game of the year in the 41-38 win at the Los Angeles Chargers.

The numbers tell part of the story with 533 total net yards and five touchdowns.

Coming off the bye week, Campbell wanted to see if the team still had its mojo, wanting to see improvement all-around. He got it offensively from everyone.

“Ultimately this whole offensive line, those five up front really set the tone,’’ Campbell said on Monday. “We needed them to, they’re the engine under the hood and they can go. We had a checklist of things and we checked every box’’

The offensive line was healthy after left guard Jonah Jackson and center Frank Ragnow had missed time with injuries.

Quarterback Jared Goff never was sacked, heck he said he was never touched.

That line play sparked the run and passing games.

“I thought Goff made some critical throws, our receivers really showed up, not only in the pass game, but the run game,’’ Campbell said. “We wanted to be physical and those guys on the perimeter did that’s why we had explosive runs.’’

Running backs David Montgomery (back from injury) and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs form a perfect two-headed monster. After the game, Campbell said their vision of the run game was coming to live with the two healthy backs.

“I think it’s hard to totally rely on one back, that’s a hard position. Those are hard miles that you put on a guy and to expect 65 plays a game for 17 games plus the playoffs, that’s hard,’’ Campbell said. “But if you can share the load, and no different than anybody else on our offense, when you have different skill sets and they’re able to do different things, they excel at certain things a little better, I think it just gives you more versatility and gives you a better chance for matchups that you want. They’re playing at a high level.”

Montgomery’s 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the third longest rush this year in the NFL. It was the longest by a Lion since RB Jahvid Best had an 88-yard touchdown rush in 2011. Overall Montgomery had a dozen carries for 116 yards, averaging 9.7 yards per touch.

Montgomery Is the third Lion to rush for 100-plus yards and a touchdown in three of the first six games of a player’s season, along with Barry Sanders (1991) and Billy Sims (1981). Pretty good company.

Gibbs scored a pair of touchdowns – both on 1-yard runs in the first half. Overall he carried 14 times for 75 yards and he had three catches for 35 yards.

He became the first Lions’ rookie to rush for a touchdown in three-straight games since RB Kevin Smith in 2008. And he joined RB James Jones (1983) as the only players in franchise history to produce at least 50 scrimmage yards in each of their first seven NFL games.

Goff had seven different pass catchers with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown hauling down eight catches for 156 yards. His 20-yard touchdown late in the third quarter put the Lions up 31-24 with 4:31 left. His average catch was 19.5 yards. He also carried the ball twice for 9 yards.

Campbell notes that Goff’s composure was “awesome” which is basically expected for the veteran quarterback.

The coach also credited offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s game calling.

“I felt like he was two steps ahead. You’d be hard-pressed to call a better game than he did offensively,’’ Campbell said.

It all adds up to an offensive that has been carefully crafted since the arrival of Campbell and GM Brad Holmes to the franchise. They’re seeing their vision come to life and they have to be proud of the results. So far.

NEXT UP: Chicago Bears (3-7) at Lions (7-2), 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.