The Detroit Lions’
defensive line can scare opponents with its power and speed off the line.
In two games in 2011, the Lions sacked Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler five times.
Defensive end Cliff Avril racked up two sacks, while defensive end’s Willie Young and Lawerence Jackson combined for three sacks.
The Bears did a solid job at containing defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Suh added seven tackles, while Vanden Bosch had just two assisted tackles in the two games against the Bears in 2011.
This time around, the Bears must make it a point to stop the Lions defensive front once again.
Not only have Avril, Vanden Bosch and Suh done a great job this season at harassing opposing quarterbacks, but second-year defensive tackle Nick Fairley and former Packer Corey Williams have been solid as well.
Cliff Avril leads the Lions’ defense with 3.5 sacks, while Vanden Bosch and Suh each have 2.5 sacks.
The Lions rank a pedestrian 18th in the NFL with 12.0 sacks on the season. At 2-3, the Lions are going to be attacking constantly on Monday night.
It’s going to be very hostile considering the hatred between the two NFC North teams. The Bears are 5-1 against the Jim Schwartz led Lions.
The Bears’ offensive line has allowed 14 sacks this season which ranks 22nd in the NFL. That may seem pathetic, but take away the seven sack game against the Green Bay Packers in Week Two and this offensive line has only allowed seven sacks.
Against three very good pass rushing teams, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Dallas they allowed just two sacks each in those games.
Come Monday night, the Bears better be ready for the exotic blitzes that the Lions will draw up. The big advantage for the Bears in this game is playing at Soldier Field rather than playing inside Ford Field.
With all that being said coming off a bye week the last thing the Bears want to do is slip up. They want to turn their three-game winning streak into four and the offensive line’s play will decide the outcome plenty.
Right tackle Gabe Carimi struggled at times in Week Five against the Jaguars. He will be looked upon to have a bounce back performance.
Center Roberto Garza and right guard Lance Louis have been steady all season long.
Left tackle J’Marcus Webb has responded well since the Week Two nightmare in Green Bay. Also, left guard Chilo Rachal has done a nice job taking over for veteran Chris Spencer especially in the run game.
With all the big names on the Lions’ defensive line the Bears better be ready to win the battle of the trenches if they want to earn their fifth victory of the 2012 season.
Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.
