Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Hester (23) scores on an 82-yard punt return in the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

In eight career games against the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears’ running back Matt Forte has rushed 135 times for 678 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.0 yards per carry.

The Bears bring the 10th-best rushing offense into Monday night’s game averaging 123.6 yards per game.

The Lions rush defense is the 12th best in the league allowing just about 96.4 yards per game.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has won five of his last six starts on Monday Night Football.

Wide receiver/kick returner Devin Hester has scored eight touchdowns (three punt returns, two kick returns, one receiving) in nine appearances on  Monday Night Football. 

In last season’s Week 10 meeting against the Lions he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown on the way to a 37-13 win for the Bears.

The Lions became the first team in NFL history to allow a punt return and a kick return for a touchdown in back-to-back games (Week 3: Tennessee, Week 4: Minnesota).

The Bears are second in the NFL in scoring with an average of 29.8 points per game, which includes the five defensive touchdowns they’ve scored this season.

Take away those defensive scores and the offense is averaging 22.8 points per game.

Defensive tackle Henry Melton is second among defensive tackles in sacks (4.5) behind only Bengals DT Geno Atkins (6.0).

The Bears have won seven of their last eight games against the Lions. The last loss came in Week Five of the 2011 season, when the Lions beat the Bears 24-13 on Monday Night Football.

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.

Defensive tackle Henry Melton is currently tied for second among defensive tackles in sacks (3.0) behind only Panthers DT Dwan Edwards (3.5).

The Bears defense ranks first in the NFL in sacks with 14.0. They finished last season 19th in the league with 33.0 sacks.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has won four of his last five starts on Monday Night Football.

Wide receiver/kick returner Devin Hester has scored eight touchdowns (three punt returns, two kick returns, one receiving) in eight appearances on  Monday Night Football. 

The four-man rotation of defensive ends (Julius Peppers, Israel Idonije, Shea McClellin, Corey Wootton) have combined for 8.0 sacks this season.

McClellin’s two sacks rank second among rookie defensive ends behind only Seahawks DE Bruce Irvin (2.5).

Cowboys DE DeMarcus Ware has 6.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his last seven games on Monday Night Football.

The last time the Bears and Cowboys squared off was in Week Two of the 2010 season. The Bears started Frank Omiyale at left tackle because Chris Williams was injured. Omiyale played arguably his best game as a Bear not allowing DeMarcus Ware to record a sack.

Bears cornerback Tim Jennings is first in the league in interceptions (4) and in pass deflections (9) this 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.

-RB Matt Forte has 283 rushing yards on 60 carries in his last three games after getting a total of 101 yards on 32 carries in the previous three. …

-WR Johnny Knox has at least one catch for 24 yards or longer in nine of the Bears’ 11 games, even though he’s got a total of just 40 receptions. …

-TE Greg Olsen has TD catches in three of his last four games. …

-S Major Wright alternated series at strong safety last week, and the rookie was credited with a personal-best four tackles. …

-Danieal Manning saw his playing time slashed last week when he was platooned with Wright. But that allowed Manning to share the kickoff-return duties with Devin Hester, and Manning averaged 29.3 yards on three returns, even though one was significantly shortened by a holding penalty. …

-DE Israel Idonije was given full credit for a sack last week that was originally split between him and Henry Melton. Idonije now has a team-best seven sacks, one short of his career total for his first six years in the league. …

-DE Julius Peppers has six sacks, including four in the last two games, and his 87 sacks since 2002 are third in the league behind only Jason Taylor (92) and Dwight Freeney (92).