Lions vs. Bears: Breaking Down Detroit's Game Plan

The Detroit Lions make the trip west on I-94 to Chicago to face the Bears with the ability to clinch a playoff berth with a victory.

What: Detroit Lions (10-4) at Chicago Bears (5-9)

When: Sunday, December 21, 1 p.m. ET

Watch: Fox, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman with the call

Detroit wraps up no worse than a wild-card berth with a win over the Bears, a team it soundly defeated 34-17 in Ford Field on Thanksgiving. The two teams have taken markedly divergent paths since that fateful game.

The Lions have won three in a row, while the Bears have gone in the other direction. Chicago has dropped its last three games in the midst of losing six of its last eight contests. Five of those last seven games have not been competitive, including Monday night's embarrassing 31-15 home loss to New Orleans.

The final score of that game doesn't come close to telling the story of how one-sided Monday Night Football truly was in Chicago. The Bears trailed 24-0 well into the fourth quarter, netting less than 100 yards while allowing almost 400 to that point. 

It was such a brutal performance, postgame reports have the coaching staff—and perhaps general manager Phil Emery—all losing their jobs:

"

REPORT: Bears ownership met Monday night. Coach Marc Trestman likely to be fired after season. http://t.co/hIAtXaNMrO pic.twitter.com/WMF9DpVoDM

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) December 17, 2014"

If you watched the game, you understand why. The Bears played without passion, without unified effort and certainly without a lot of skill. There were three false start penalties on wide receivers, as well as a fake punt attempt with just 10 Bears on the field. 

Lions fans know that look all too well. It's the sign of a team that has given up on a season. Detroit was in a similar place last year, playing out the string under an obvious lame-duck coach with no chance of making the playoffs after harboring aspirations of postseason grandeur even into late October. 

Into that climate the Lions venture with much at stake and playing pretty well. Between the apparent apathy and ravages of injuries, these Bears are an antelope stuck in the mud with the hungry lions approaching. The rest of the herd has left them for dead. 

Paul Jasienski/Associated Press

I'm not going to lie: I have never been more confident of a Detroit Lions victory in my adult life, and I'm old enough that my No. 20 Honolulu blue jersey says "Sims" on the back, and it's not a throwback. It's almost inconceivable these Lions lose to these Bears. After all, these are not the Same Old Lions.

Meanwhile, Chicago's sports media is in full nuclear mode. Listening to the radio in Chicago this week has been almost comedic; even the more rational hosts want everybody gone, from Emery to Marc Trestman to Jay Cutler to the very grass at Soldier Field. 

In that context, breaking down the X's and O's seems somewhat superfluous. The game plan seems obvious, right? Just go out and handle business.

This time around, instead of offering up schematics or ways to win, I opted instead to go with some desires along the way to a rare outdoor win in December. The last of those was in Oakland in Week 15 of 2011, by the way.

It's Christmas season, the time of giving, right? Here's what I want the Lions to give me on Sunday:

• No drama whatsoever
• Physical humiliation of the opponent
• Clean bill of health

The first game featured too much drama. Chicago bolted out to a quick 14-3 lead, looking crisp and well-prepared while the Lions looked lame and lethargic. Note the early part of this highlight reel and how great Chicago looked out of the gate.

Detroit righted the ship after the second Alshon Jeffery touchdown reception. Matthew Stafford and the offense exploded for four touchdowns in the next five possessions, while the Detroit defense held the Bears to under 75 more yards until the final drive. 

This game needs to follow that script from the opening kickoff to the final Dan Orlovsky kneel-down in victory formation. The Lions need to assert their dominance from the get-go, proving they are the superior team and wiping away any chance of a death-gasp rally from these hapless Bears. All Chicago hope needs to be smothered quickly.

As for physical domination, the Monday night game whetted my appetite for destruction with plays like this from Saints defensive tackle Akiem Hicks:

Hicks isn't even a pass-rusher, per se. That vulgar display of power was just his second sack on the season, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grades him negatively in his pass rush. 

I want to see Ndamukong Suh make plays like this. I want to see Jason Jones completely overwhelm Chicago right tackle Jordan Mills, PFF's 58th-ranked offensive tackle in pass protection. 

I want to see Jay Cutler frustrated in the offensive sloppiness and ineptitude around him, like he was Monday on this play:

On the other side of the ball, I want to see Joique Bell use the "truck stick" like he did against Miami:

"

Joique Bell hit a Dolphins defender with the force of 1,000 truck sticks http://t.co/WGon1eTxk7 pic.twitter.com/j3YT99TJWu

— SB Nation (@SBNation) November 9, 2014"

I want Calvin Johnson to show Bears rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller why he earned the Megatron moniker. While Fuller has a bright future, he's been downright abysmal lately. His last three game scores from PFF are a combined minus-11.5.

"

Kyle Fuller looked like a legitimate DROY candidate early in the year until teams realized that they can dominate him by playing physical.

— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) December 16, 2014"

I want the kind of performance that grabs attention, one that sends a message to Seattle, Arizona and especially Green Bay these Lions are an animal to be reckoned with, if not outright feared. 

I want the national media, which still remains largely—and justifiably—reticent to buy into the Lions as a real contender, to see a physical whipping that loudly demonstrates the top-end potential of this talented bunch. 

Lastly, Detroit needs to come out of this game healthy. Last week cost the Lions starting right tackle LaAdrian Waddle to a torn ACL just as the offensive line was finally starting to jell with its projected starting lineup all healthy. 

Further injuries to the offensive line could prove problematic. Losing Johnson, Stafford, Suh or any starters in the secondary? Kiss any realistic shot at a victory over Green Bay in Week 17 or playoff win goodbye. 

If the Lions can even come close to fulfilling my Christmas wishes, they should make the opening line of being 4.5-point favorites look laughably low. Judging by the current line at Odds Shark (-7), the general public agrees.

As it should. Detroit is the better, healthier, more motivated team. No outcome is ever a given, but as long as Detroit brings even its B-game to Soldier Field, the Lions should head home with an emphatic victory. 

All statistics are from NFL.com unless specified otherwise. 

Jeff Risdon is a Featured Columnist for the Detroit Lions. He is also the founder and editor of Detroit Lions Draft and the Senior NFL/Draft Writer for RealGM, where he has covered the league since 2003.