Bears Open as Ridiculous Road Underdogs for Week 1 Matchup With Lions

The Detroit Lions 2019 season went awry after the Matthew Stafford injury ended the starting quarterback's season. This led to a miserable 3-12-1 season for Matt Patricia and his team. The Chicago Bears also had a down-year last season, finishing 8-8 after a playoff berth in 2018.

As you might expect based on the Lions win total, the Bears swept the season division series a year ago, winning by a combined total of 44-33 in two contests. They also swept the Lions in 2018. FanDuel Sportsbook has their Week 1 odds available now.

Bears vs Lions Spread Week 1

Despite Chicago's recent dominance, the Lions are currently a home favorite in Week 1, getting 2.5 points in Detroit. This must be due to Stafford's return, plus the influx at quarterback for the Bears (with Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles competing for the starting job).

Even with the offensive questions for Matt Nagy's unit, this projection seems unwarranted. Not only has Chicago not lost to Detroit in two seasons, it has beaten the Lions by more than 2.5 points in all four outings. The closest result was a 4-point Bears road win last year.

Neither team really had an eye-opening offseason. Sure the Bears brought in Foles, but they were otherwise subdued with their key acquisitions being edge Robert Quinn and tight end Jimmy Graham. They also drafted tight end Cole Kmet and cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

The Lions made way more moves, trading star cornerback Darius Slay and rebuilding the defense at all levels. Some of the names to watch in 2020 are rookies Jeffrey Okudah and Julian Okwara, not to mention Desmond Trufant, Jamie Collins and Danny Shelton. The main offensive difference will be rookie running back D'Andre Swift, and what he can bring to the table.

The Lions roster is certainly improved, but people forget that this Bears defense was unstoppable behind Khalil Mack and friends just two seasons ago. Much of that 2018 core remains, and this Week 1 rivalry game should max out for intensity on both sides of the ball.

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Michael Obermuller is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Michael Obermuller also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username king_mizzard. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.