Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears: Who Has the Edge at Every Position

It's going to be an interesting season this year to say the least.

In the NFC North, the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears are expected to battle for second place to the Green Bay Packers, because let's face it: They're not surpassing the cheese.

That said, each team has some new faces for the 2011-12 campaign.

So, who's better across the board?

Each position was examined in breaking down the Bears and Lions. Check it out.

QBs

It's a close one between the starting QBs Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler.

And, it's also a close one between the backups Shaun Hill and Caleb Hainne.

But, the edge here goes to the Detroit Lions as they finished ranked No. 12 in the league, averaging 238.1 yards per game.

The Bears on the other hand, only averaged 188.4 yards per game, ranking them No. 28 in the NFL.

It's a significant difference in stats, despite it being rather close when comparing them individually.

Edge: Detroit Lions

RBs

Another fairly close matchup, or closer than may be anticipated.

Chicago's Matt Forte and Detroit's Jahvid Best are the starters, and Chester Taylor along with (right now appearing to be) Maurice Morris are the backups.

The difference here?

Rookie Mikel Leshoure's season-ending injury prior to the first week of preseason football.

However, Matt Forte proves to be the man, and is looking to build off a solid 2010 season.

Edge: Chicago Bears

WRs and TEs

We'll begin with the WRs.

Detroit has Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, Nate Burleson, and rookie Titus Young from Boise State.

Chicago has Johnny Knox and Roy Williams.

For one, the Lions had the better passing game in 2010, and they have Megatron. Game over.

Edge: Detroit Lions

As for the TEs, the Lions have the reliable Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler, while the Bears have a solid veteran in Desmond Clark.

The Bears, however, no longer have Greg Olsen who was one of Cutler's favorite targets as he led the team with five TD receptions (tied with Johnny Knox) last year.

Edge: Detroit Lions

O-Line

The Bears lost center Olin Kreutz to the New Orleans Saints.

The Lions though, haven't had a threatening rushing attack since the days of Barry Sanders.

And since The Windy City has the edge with Matt Forte and Chester Taylor at RB, Chicago should hit the ground running (literally), in 2011-12.

Also, Chicago edged out the Lions in per-game rushing average last season, 101 to 100.8.

Edge: Chicago Bears

D-Line

This is where things really get interesting.

On one side in The Motor City, there's DTs Ndamukong Suh and rookie Nick Fairley, as well as DE Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Then on the other, there's future Hall of Fame DE Julius Peppers, as well as Israel Idonije.

In addition, the Bears now have DT Amobi Okoye, who they signed as a free agent last month.

Both will be very dominant in 2011-12, but the Bears are already an established front, whereas the Lions are about one step back (no further).

Edge: Chicago Bears

LBs

This may be the biggest discrepancy between both franchises.

The Lions LBs Deandre Levy, Stephen Tulloch, Justin Durant, and Bobby Carpenter have potential behind that solid D-line.

Chicago however, has the luxuries of Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. Period.

Edge: Chicago Bears

Secondary

This one, may come as a surprise.

This offseason, the Chicago Bears have done away with the services of safety Danieal Manning, who was the focal point behind their secondary. Thing is, even with Manning, the Bears still allowed 224 passing yards per game, ranking them No. 20 in the NFL.

In Detroit, they have Brandon McDonald, Eric Wright, Chris Houston, and Louis Delmas, all of whom are not ridiculously amazing, but solid enough together to be rather respectable.

Plus, the Lions only allowed 216 pass yards per game, good enough to rank No. 16.

Now, the Bears do still have Charles Tillman and Chris Harris, but losing Manning gives the Lions the edge.

Edge: Detroit Lions

Special Teams

In terms of kicking, it's a wash between the Lions' Jason Hanson and the Bears' Robbie Gould.

As for punting, well, it's punting.

Definitely important, but as long as it's not getting blocked, and the punt averages around 40 yards, whoever is doing the punting becomes somewhat irrelevant.

Hence, the reason why there's no true punters in the Hall of Fame.

Moving on to the return game, and Chicago still has Devin Hester, whereas the Lions have Stefan Logan.

Logan is decent, but he's no Hester.

Edge: Chicago Bears