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Five things to watch as the Lions face the Bears in Chicago; plus, prediction

The weather forecast may be holiday-perfect — just another cold, wintry Sunday at Soldier Field on Sunday when the Lions play the Bears.

It will be the second meeting for the NFC North rivals. Chicago (4-8) may still be a little angry at themselves for giving up a late fourth-quarter lead a few weeks ago at Ford Field to Detroit (9-3). The Lions still sit atop the NFC North with the Bears hanging out in the basement.

“Yeah, I’m not worried about the whole revenge factor. I mean, we’re hungry and we’ve got to win to win,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “So, we want this too, now. I mean – and I think for them, look man, they’re playing pretty good football right now and they want to win. So, I think – I’m not worried about revenge, I’m worried about what this team presents.’’

The Bears present another issue – they are coming off a bye week.

“Typically, when you play a defense like this one, they’re rested. Two, specific to this game, they’re probably upset and angry about how the last game finished for them,’’ quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell said.

“And they have time to put things in that perhaps you’re not ready for. We will be surprised on a few things, whether it’s a front, it’s a type of pressure, it’s coverage — we’ll see something different. That usually happens every week but when a team comes off a bye you see a lot more,’’ Brunell added.

Five things to watch:

1. The defense must contain quarterback Justin Fields as much as possible. They have struggled with mobile quarterbacks and Fields carried 18 times for 104 yards in their first meeting. “He’s dangerous. He’s one of these rare, dangerous players and I’ll tell you what he’s done a really good job of, from last year to this year is once he – man, if it’s a pass and he starts to move, he’s still moving with eyes down the field much more than I felt like he had previously and that’s extremely dangerous because even in Minnesota, he had two or three receivers wide open after he had kind of run, found a way through, broke contain and all of a sudden he gets an explosive pass off of it,’’ Campbell said. “But he is dangerous and he – everything starts with him, for us defensively, and containing these guys.”

2. The weather conditions definitely will affect the game-calling. If it’s windy and rainy, Lions running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs will have to pile up yardage on the ground. While they’ve had much success, the Bears’ defense is tied for first in the NFL in rushing defense allowing just 79.0 rushing yards per game. In their first matchup, the Lions had 115 rushing yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

3. After two rough games as far as turnovers, Jared Goff came back in fine form in the win at New Orleans. Even though the Chicago weather could live up to its Windy City name, Brunell expects Goff to be fine. “(Wind) doesn’t bother Jared at all. I’m pretty impressed for a guy who played in L.A., and grew up in California, how the elements don’t seem to bother him at all. It’s pretty impressive,’’ Brunell said. “He’s in his eighth year, he’s been in those games, those environments and he’s had success.’’

4. Others must step up with the absence of defensive tackle Alim McNeill who was placed on injured reserve this week. Levi Onwuzurike, Isaiah Buggs, rookie Brodric Martin and/or Quinton Bohanna could see more playing time. Same for Bruce Irvin who made his Lions’ debut in New Orleans with 11 snaps. Campbell wants to get him more this week.

5. The Lions defense must continue to limit explosive plays. They have allowed the third fewest run plays of 10 yards or more all season. But the chunk plays in the passing game have at times been an issue. “The thing that I try to do is look at the big picture. We’re one of the top teams in the League as far as not giving up explosive plays. So, I always try to point back to that and what we did before to not give those things up, and our guys understand that,’’ defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “And listen, this is a League of teams that are trying to make big plays because usually when you make big plays, obviously you’re going to get scores after that. So, that’s one thing that we try to make sure we focus on.’’

INJURIES: Center Frank Ragnow (knee, back, toe) and QB Hendon Hooker (knee) are out. LB/FB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) is questionable. LB Alex Anzalone (hand), who missed last week, will play.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Bears 17. The Lions need to continue winning for their hopes of getting a home playoff game. Don’t see them letting up now.

Lions: Alim McNeill’s 4-week absence opens door for others to step up

Onwuzurike, Buggs, Martin and Bohanna could see more action

ALLEN PARK — Lions coach Dan Campbell admits that losing defensive tackle Alim McNeill for four weeks is going to be tough, but the train moves on.

McNeill was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury on Tuesday. He is expected to return to the active roster in time for the playoffs.

The Lions have depth at the position, but not the experience or talent that McNeill brings to the field. He’s second to Aidan Hutchinson (5.5) in sacks with five and tied with Alex Anzalone with nine quarterback hits. Hutchinson has 16.

Levi Onwuzurike, Isaiah Buggs, rookie Brodric Martin and Quinton Bohanna are candidates to see more playing time.

“It’s a great opportunity for those guys, that’s all you can ask for. If you’re one of them you’re excited,’’ Campbell said on Wednesday. “(Mac) has been a reliable, steady, productive player for us, he’s really come into his own this year. He’s grown every year but this year he was big, he was a force for us. The guys have a lot of respect for him.’’

Campbell said it hurts but it’s the nature of the game to lose key players.

Onwuzurike has played in six games, but has been inactive for six including Sunday at New Orleans. Still Campbell said they are not disappointed in him. He missed the 2022 season with a back injury that required surgery, after playing all 16 games as a rookie in 2021.

“It’s been reps, some of these come down to the position itself between the bigs in the middle to OLB to hybrid. (John) Cominsky is kind of a hybrid. Romeo (Okwara) is a little bit in that nature. So we can’t overload in one position or another,’’ Campbell said.

“(Levi has) been the odd guy out, but he works his rear off and it’s really time on task. The more reps he gets the better he’s going to be. And he continues to grow. We’re not disappointed with him. We’re excited that he’s healthy and able to work and he is growing, he is getting better,’’ Campbell said.

Buggs, who has played in six games this season, is another who could step up. Campbell said he needs to be reliable, dependable, do his job and be consistent. He’s been inactive for three straight contests.

Quinton Bohanna has started the last two games and could see his snap counts increase.

Martin, a third-round draft pick, has played in just one game so far.

Veteran Ndamukong Suh remains unsigned, but it doesn’t appear he’s headed back to Detroit.

“Listen Brad (Holmes) has looked at all of it. We haven’t overlooked anybody. We’ve looked at everybody,’’ Campbell said. “At this moment we made the decision we felt was best for us.’’

The Lions signed 36-year-old nose tackle Tyson Alualu to the practice squad on Tuesday, but the coach said it will take a few weeks to see if he can contribute.

UP NEXT: Lions (9-3) at Bears (4-8), 1 p.m. on Sunday on Fox. The Lions beat the Bears, 31-26, in their first meeting, but Detroit had to make a huge fourth-quarter comeback to grab the W.

Lions rookie TE Sam LaPorta continues to impress and shatter records

Campbell was an NFL TE, but won’t compare himself to LaPorta

ALLEN PARK — Lions coach Dan Campbell was an NFL tight end for 10 seasons so he has a little insight into Sam LaPorta’s world, but apparently not too much.

Campbell is first to admit he didn’t have near the impact as LaPorta has shown through 12 games of his rookie season.

“First of all I don’t know what that’s like, I know what the run game part of it is like. I have no idea what it’s like to go out there, get open, run routes and catch some balls. I was never even close to that,’’ Campbell said on Monday.

Sure enough in Campbell’s rookie season with the Giants he played in a dozen games with one start and had zero receptions. In his 10-year career he had 91 catches and 11 touchdowns.

It’s fair to say that LaPorta, who was drafted 34th overall, is a different animal. In fact it’s scary to think how good he can become.

LaPorta received the game ball after his nine catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 33-28 win at New Orleans. He became the first tight end in NFL history to produce at least 60 receptions, 600 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns through the first 12 games of a player’s career.

Not bad. And, as Campbell said, it’s not all about the stats, he is a complete player.

“It is not easy to play this position as a rookie and to do all we’re asking him to do because he does it all, it’s in the run game, it’s protection and then you see the pass production. That’s what everybody sees, the numbers, the separation,’’ Campbell said. “But nobody has any true idea of all the other stuff he does for us. That’s what a tight end does. I’m glad he’s ours.’’

Campbell said LaPorta just keeps growing.

“He doesn’t say a word, he just goes to work, he’s hard on himself but he never gets down, he never feels sorry for himself when he makes a mistake, it drives him,’’ Campbell said. “I know this, in critical times of the game he always shows up. It’s not easy but he’s making it look easy, I know that.’’

In a solid four-year college career at Iowa, LaPorta had just five touchdown catches. He’s surpassed that mark and the Lions have five regular season games remaining.

Here’s a few other crazy stats from Sunday’s win:

— He became the sixth rookie tight end in NFL history, and first since 1995, to produce a game with 140 receiving yards and a touchdown.

— He recorded his sixth touchdown reception of the season, passing TE David Hill (five in 1976) for the second-most a Lions rookie has produced.

— LaPorta has produced seven five-catch games this season. This ties for the second-most by a rookie tight end in NFL history and for the second-most by a tight end in franchise history.

— His 64 receptions are the second-most a Lions rookie has had in a season, regardless of position. The team record is 90 catches, set by WR Amon-Ra St. Brown in 2021.

INJURY UPDATE: Center Frank Ragnow, who injured his knee Sunday, got good news from tests on Monday but Campbell says that doesn’t mean he will play Sunday … LB Alex Anzalone (hand) could have a chance to play this week after sitting Sunday. … DL Alim MacNeil, who was injured Sunday, could miss this week’s game.

UP NEXT: Lions (9-2) at Chicago Bears (4-8), 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10. The Lions beat the Bears, 31-26, in their first meeting.