A more healthy offensive line and an emerging ground game provide hope for victory on Thanksgiving Day.
Allen Park — The last time they played the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions left so much meat on the bone. This Thursday, in the team’s annual Thanksgiving Day game, the Lions get a chance at redemption, against a wounded Bears team with a coaching staff on the ropes. To get that elusive first win, in what is arguably their best remaining chance, the Lions must not waste any opportunity to pick the carcass clean. “We did some things good the last time we played them and the turnovers killed us,» Lions coach Dan Campbell said this week. «I think some of that is us just trying to be smart when we get down there and give ourselves a chance to possess the ball and then see if we can get it in there.» In that Week 4 matchup at Solider Field, the Lions drove inside the Bears’ 10-yard line with each of their first three possessions, yet somehow came away with zero points in the 24-14 loss. More: Five things to watch: Bears at Lions Almost anything that could go wrong for the Lions that game, did. In the opening quarter, a miscommunication led to Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow prematurely snapping the ball to quarterback Jared Goff on first-and-goal from the Chicago 8. Not only did the Lions lose the ball after it ricocheted off Goff’s chest into the arms of Bears defensive lineman Bilal Nichols, they lost Ragnow. It turned out to be his final play of the season due to a severe toe injury. The Lions also lost one of their best defensive players for the season that afternoon when outside linebacker Romeo Okwara tore his Achilles. And while it might feel like a distant memory with how well he’s been playing the past month and a half, first-round draft pick Penei Sewell had his worst performance of the season against the Bears. He allowed seven quarterback pressures and two sacks, including one that saw Goff get stripped of the ball on the third of those three first-half red-zone trips.
