Poised to take on the high-flying Lions in Detroit, the Bears would already be down on morale. Facing a Lions side who are 10-1 for the season with a clear road to the playoffs. The Bears are rooted at the bottom of their division. With a losing streak that stretches to 5 games, they are now missing out on key players in their starting lineup.

Ryan Bates, whom the Bears traded from the Bills this offseason, was supposed to be the starting center. However, things have only gone downhill for him. Whenever he has found himself available, the Bears have preferred to go with Coleman Shelton at center. Starting 11 games to date, Sheldon has somewhat nailed down the position for himself. As for Bates, he has only played three games while spending most of the time in injury reserves.

Although he did manage to return against the Patriots from his shoulder injury, the following week gave him another setback. Going up against the Green Bay, Bates suffered a concussion. This led to him missing the Vikings game because of concussion protocol. However, when it looked like he would finally come back, the Bears received another bad news. Bates still hasn’t been able to clear the concussion protocol.

Well, he isn’t the only one sitting out on Thanksgiving watching their team take on the gridiron. Safety Elijah Hicks is also out with an ankle injury he suffered against the Packers. Similar to Bates, Hicks also missed last week’s game against the Vikings. In his place, Jonathan Owens recorded 8 tackles, and a forced fumble. And with Hicks out of the picture for now, Owens is expected to start again at safety. But the question is, can the Bears put up any fight against their divisional rivals on Thanksgiving?

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Is there any hope for the Bears in Detriot?

Caleb Williams would be the one to watch out for in Detroit. Coming up against a Lions side that ranks 22nd in sacks, he could find some extra time to get his targets sorted. But the problems could be elsewhere for Williams. Lions safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have 7 and 4 interceptions, respectively, to their names. So they might not need those sacks in order to stop Williams from finding his receivers or TEs.

As for Williams, his streak of 193 games without throwing an interception could be at huge risk today. However, the Lions haven’t won a game on Thanksgiving since 2016. And this could be a respite for the Bears side who are in dire need of a win. Their head coach, Matt Eberflus, who is imminent to face the sack, could find his position under more scrutiny if the Bears fail to win today. They are almost out of the playoff picture, but a loss today will confirm their faith.

With only 53 points in their last four games on the road. The Bears might fail to show up against a Lions side that is shredding teams apart for fun this season.