The Lions have placed WR/KR Adam Jennings on the Injured Reserve List ending his season due to a ankle injury he suffered in his first game with the team.  Jennings was probably going to eventually bump rookie RB Aaron Brown as the kickoff returner.  Brown has returned 21 kickoffs for 463 yards (22.0 avg) this season but he will lose his starting spot to WR Derrick Williams who was a 3rd round pick out of Penn State.

Rookie QB Matt Stafford actually dislocated his knee against the Bears and it was popped back into place.  The Lions are saying that he’s day to day but I don’t buy it.  I think he will miss 1-2 weeks as the Lions would be nuts to start a gimpy Stafford against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ D this week.  Stafford has started all 4 games for the Lions this season and he has completed 79 of 139 passes (56.8%) for 894 yards with 3 TD passes and 6 interceptions (65.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 7 times for 50 yards (7.1 ypc) with a TD run this year.  The Lions have to protect their franchise QB’s health so it’s very possible that Daunte Culpepper will start this week.  He completed 6 of 11 passes (54.5%) for 54 yards (68.0 QB Rating) in relief of Stafford last week against the Bears.

The Detroit Lions’ rookie safety Louis Delmas has been a bright spot for the 1-3 Lions and has not looked like a rookie in his first few NFL games.  The NFL recognized the stellar play by Delmas and he was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.  Through four games Delmas 21 tackles (17 solo), a sack, three pass deflections, and had fumble recovery which he returned 65 yards for a touchdown.  The Lions are improving and with good young players like Delmas they will be a force to reckon with in the NFC North sooner than later.

The Detroit Lions (1-3) played the Chicago Bears (3-1) extremely well in the first half, but they couldn’t continue it into the second half and lost 48-24 in Chicago.  The score was tied at 21 at halftime and Mathew Stafford and the offense were pretty effective against a good Bears defense in the first half.  The Bears seemed to wake up in the second half though, as they made some key adjustments at the break.  Lions’ receiver Calvin Johnson was lighting up the Bears secondary in the first half, as he had 119 yards receiving on six catches.  The Bears then moved Charles Tillman on to Johnson in the second half and Tillman was able to shut Johnson down.  Johnson had two catches for 14 yards in the second half.

Stafford had a solid game, finishing with 296 yards and a touchdown on 24/36 attempts.  He did not get very much protection though, as the Bears had five sacks.  Unfortunately Stafford had to leave the game in the 4th quarter too, as the Bears’ Adewale Ogunleye sacked Stafford and he got his knee bent awkwardly.  It turns out he had a subluxation of his right knee, meaning that his knee cap popped out of place, but it popped back in.  Stafford may be able to play next week or he may be out for a few weeks, it all of it depends on how much damage he did to the cartilage around his knee cap.  Daunte Culpepper finished the game for Stafford, but they Lions were already down 41-24 at the time and there wasn’t much Culpepper could do.  He finished with 54 yards on 6/11 (55%) pass attempts.

The Bears showed they were the better football team today, but the Lions are showing signs of life after getting their first win last week against Washington and going into halftime tied with the Bears.  The Lions did a decent job of stopping the run if not for two huge runs by Matt Forte.  He had a 61-yard run and a 37-yard run, but only totaled 121 yards.  The Lions are improving and hopefully Stafford’s knee is not serious.  They take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at home next week.

The Detroit Lions (1-2) are coming off a huge win last week against the Washington Redskins and look to continue that success Sunday at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears (2-1).  The win over the Redskins was the Lions’ first win in 20 games and it was a huge burden lifted off their shoulders.  The Lions will have a big challenge against the Bears though, and it looks like they may be over-matched.

The Lions passing game has struggled all year as their rookie quarterback Mathew Stafford has thrown five interceptions.  Those five interceptions came in the first two games though, and Stafford had much better game last week.  Stafford had no turnovers and threw for 241 yards and a touchdown on 21/36 attempts (58%).  He has a big weapon in Calvin Johnson to throw to, and although they have not hooked up a ton in the first few weeks, they have had a few big plays together.  Their running back Kevin Smith has been very reliable after a bad opener against the Saints, and in the past two games he has rushed for 184 yards on 40 attempts (4.6 avg).

Look for the Lions to try and attack the Bears with runs up the middle and short passes, as their line-backing core is very depleted.  With Brian Urlacher out for the year, the Bears had Hunter Hillenmeyer filling in.  Hillenmeyer was doing a solid job but left last week’s game with a rib injury.  The injury will keep him out of this one too, and they are now on their third-string middle linebacker with Nick Roach.  The Bears defensive line has played great though, as they have six sacks and have done a great job disrupting other team’s passing game.  They also have done a solid job of plugging up holes defending the run, but they are much more effective pass rushing.

Although it looks like Stafford and the Lions offense is improving, the Bears defense is still pretty strong especially with the defensive line they have.  The Lions defense have struggled all year and Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler has been looking good the last two weeks.  The Bears’ running game has been very weak thus far, with running back Matt Forte having a sophomore slump.  The Lions run defense isn’t very good though, and Forte could finally have a breakout game.  The Lions are improving, but the Bears are the better football team and will win this one pretty easily at home.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Bears 31, Lions 17

Veteran CB Anthony Henry has been making some big plays for the Lions this season.  He has made 22 tackles, defensed 4 passes and he has 1 interception.  The Lions are giving up 278.7 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 123.7 QB Rating this season.  But, they still have to account for Anthony Henry when game planning for the Lions.