Bears vs. Lions Prop Bets: Both Teams Need Bounce-Back Offensive Performances After Week 1 Losses

• The Lions allowed just 78 rushing yards on 25 attempts during their Week 1 loss to the Packers.

• The Bears had 35 pass attempts to just 26 rush attempts in Week 1 despite playing most of the game with a lead.

• Jared Goff threw multiple touchdown passes in 12 of 17 regular-season games last year, including both games against the Bears. 

Just in case the two NFC North division rivalry games in Week 1 weren’t enough, there is another one on the Week 2 schedule. Somewhat surprisingly, both teams are coming off a loss in Week 1, as the Detroit Lions host the Chicago Bears. Detroit has won five of the six head-to-head meetings between these teams over the past three seasons. Of course, this matchup carries a little extra weight because Chicago head coach Ben Johnson was previously Detroit’s offensive coordinator. In his second game as a head coach, he will face his former team and his former boss, Dan Campbell.

Even though we’re just one week into the season, it’s fascinating to see how the NFC North odds have changed since before the season, as the Lions now have the second-longest odds. Similarly, Johnson was considered the favorite for NFC Coach of the Year before the season. But after the Bears blew a lead in Week 1, that’s no longer the case.

Get in on NFL Week 2 action with our updated NFL offense rankings, along with our NFL defense rankings.

For division rivalry games, it’s sometimes easier to focus on prop bets than make a pick against the spread. If you plan to do that, check out the selection at FanDuel Sportsbook, which is currently offering new users $300 in bonus bets when they sign up and make a $5 wager. Here are our three favorite prop bets for Sunday’s Lions-Bears game.

D’Andre Swift Under 58.5 Rushing Yards (-114) at FanDuel Sportsbook 

One aspect of Detroit’s Week 1 loss that was easy to overlook is how well they stopped Green Bay’s running game. The Packers ended up with more rushes than pass attempts, with Josh Jacobs getting 19 carries. Despite that workload, he only managed 66 rushing yards. While that’s over the total that Swift is getting this week, there are reasons to believe he’ll fall short of that mark.

After all, Swift managed just 53 yards on 17 carries against the Vikings last week, gaining just 3.1 yards per carry. Keep in mind that the Bears led for much of that game, allowing them to stick to their running game. Yet, they weren’t that successful at running the ball with Swift. Against the Lions, they are more likely to play from behind or feel pressure to throw the ball, preventing Swift from getting beyond 50 rushing yards.

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Caleb Williams Over 34.5 Pass Attempts (-128) at FanDuel Sportsbook

Along those same lines, Williams is going to rack up a lot of pass attempts in this game. He had 35 last week against the Vikings, again, even with the Bears playing with a lead for most of the game. In fact, even when Chicago led, Ben Johnson seemed content to let Williams throw the ball rather than rely on the running game.

It’s a safe assumption that the Bears aren’t going to play most of the game with a lead the way they did last week. That’s just the way it’s going to be during a road game against the Lions. That should lead to a lot of pass attempts by Williams in what could be a high-scoring game.

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Jared Goff Over 1.5 Touchdown Passes (-130) at FanDuel Sportsbook 

Jared Goff had an unusual game in Week 1. He completed 31 of his 39 passes, but the explosive plays weren’t there. The Lions were also kept far from the end zone for most of the game by a great performance from the Green Bay defense. But that’s unlikely to be the case again this week because it’s become rare to see the Detroit offense stifled like that in two consecutive weeks.

Even with a new offensive coordinator this season, the Lions have too many playmakers not to find the end zone multiple times this week. After all, Goff had 12 games last season with at least two touchdown passes. Also, the Chicago secondary is a little banged up, so they might have a problem keeping up with all of Detroit’s receiving options. If J.J. McCarthy managed two touchdown passes against the Bears last week, Goff should be able to do the same.

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