The Detroit Lions (2-13) have a good shot at getting their third win of the season as they host the Chicago Bears (6-9) on Sunday.  The Lions are still without Mathew Stafford, and with Drew Stanton throwing three interceptions last week the Lions should start Daunte Culpepper.  Whoever they start under center, they need to make sure they don’t turn the ball over as that has killed the Lions all season long.  Either way, the Lions will need a big day from their running back Maurice Morris.  The Bears give up 128 rushing yards per game, so Morris should find success.

The Lions secondary needs to be aware of Devin Aromashodu, who stepped up big time last week for the Bears.  He caught 7 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, helping the Bears upset the Minnesota Vikings last week.  With Devin Hester out and possibly Johnny Knox too, Jay Cutler’s new favorite target is Aromashodu so if the Lions can shut him down it will bode very well for them.  They need to stop Bears’ running back Matt Forte too.  He has not had a good season, but he found a lot of success against the Lions earlier in the season with 121 yards and a touchdown, so they cannot let him have a repeat performance.  If they cannot stop those two, they will not have much of a chance against the Bears.

PREDICTION:  Detroit Lions 13, Chicago Bears 24

The Lions have played 7 games against teams with winning records and they have lost each of them by double figures.  The Cardinals will likely be in a bad frame of mind on Sunday after losing to the Niners on Monday Night Football last week 24-9.  That is likely not good news for the Lions.  In a perfect world the Lions would try to run the ball to keep the Cardinals’ offense off the field.  The Cardinals are giving up 111.2 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry this season.  It will be interesting to see if Maurice Morris and Aaron Brown can get anything going on the ground or not this weekend.  The Cardinals will likely blitz often in this game while double covering Calvin Johnson the whole game so it will likely he a long day for the Lions’ offense.

The Lions are allowing 272.1 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 108.8 QB Rating against them this season so it could be a long day on defense.  The Lions must find a way to put pressure on Kurt Warner or he is going to have a field day.  Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston will all likely have good games this weekend.  Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells will also likely get their share of yards on the ground on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  CARDINALS 34, LIONS 10

This is not a good match-up for the Lions as the Ravens will likely be looking to clobber someone this weekend.  The Lions should just come out throwing the ball against the Ravens who are allowing 215.0 yards through the air so far this season.  That will be easier said than done with Daunte Culpepper starting at QB this week.  Still, Calvin Johnson has to scare the you know what out of the Ravens’ corners who have been poor this year.  Kevin Smith will have to give the Lions some balance in the offense or the Ravens will bring the blitz against Culpepper to attempt to rattle him.

The Ravens will likely get back to their running game this week as they will try to bully the Lions.  With that in mind maybe the Lions should bring more players into the box because Joe Flacco has been struggling lately.  The Lions must stop Ray Rice first and worry about Flacco’s passing game later as he has been making a lot of bad decisions with the football.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, LIONS 6

The Detroit Lions (2-9) have a tough opponent this week in the Cincinnati Bengals (8-3).  The Bengals have a good all-around football team and have been finding ways to win close games all year.  This game may not be close for the Lions though, as the Bengals have an elite quarterback in Carson Palmer and the Lions are giving up 281 passing yards per game.  The Lions are giving up too much on the ground too (113 yards per game) and the Bengals have their star running back, Cedric Benson, returning.  Benson was the NFL’s leading rusher before missing the last 2 games with a hip injury.  If Benson is back in form, then it might get ugly for the Lions.

The Lions offense has been struggling all year with their rookie quarterback Mathew Stafford going through the ups and downs most rookies go through.  The only problem is that Stafford is being asked to do more than any other rookie in the league, as he has no defense or running game supporting him.  Even more is on Staffords’ plate now as he is going to play hurt with a shoulder injury.  The Lions are really going to need to get a lot out of their running game if they want a chance, but I don’t see that happening against a Bengals’ defense that only gives up 82 rushing yards per game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Detroit Lions 10, Cincinnati Bengals 35

The Packers are finally playing an opponent that won’t beat the hell out of Aaron Rodgers who has been sacked 43 times already this season.  The Lions only have 18 sacks but they should at least attempt to blitz Rodgers because he has time to throw the ball he will torture the Lions’ secondary which is allowing 275.3 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 110.3 Rating against them.  Donald Driver and Greg Jennings could both have monster games for the Packers who will likely come out throwing the ball in a attempt to break the Lions’ will tomorrow.  If the Packers jump to a big lead then it will be Ryan Grant time against the Lions’ D which is allowing 116.2 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  Either way the Packers decide to attack the Lions they will probably excel.

The Lions are really banged up on offense with Matt Stafford likely out with a dislocated left shouler and Calvin Johnson gimpy with multiple injuries.  But the Packers also have had injuries hit them as Al Harris and Aaron Kampman are both out for the year.  The Lions will likely come out trying to fight fire with fire in the passing game.  Daunte Culpepper can still be effective if he has time to throw the ball but Lions’ QBs have been sacked 30 times already this year.  Look for Culpepper to go to Johnson a lot if he plays.  If he doesn’t play look for Dennis Northcutt, Bryant Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew to be the favorite targets of Culpepper.  Regardless, Culpepper must be careful when throwing to Charles Woodson’s side of the field.  Kevin Smith will also get his carries but the Packers have a stout run defense allowing only 90.7 yards rushing per game and 3.7 ypc.  Smith is a good receiver out of the backfield and that’s how the Lions might try to get the ball in his hands tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 42, LIONS 20