Lions vs Bears: 7 Chicago Players Who Need to Step Games Up the Most

The Lions come roaring into Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday in fantastic position. Sitting at 6-2 and in prime position for the first wild card slot and still having the NFC North division crown within their grasp, the Lions are actually relevant into the second week of November.

The last time this happened wasn't as long ago as some might think. In 2007—yes just four short years ago—the Lions entered their Week 10 contest with the Arizona Cardinals sitting at 6-2 coming off an impressive 44-7 win over Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos.  

They would lose that game against the Cards and would only win one more game the rest of the season.

And now they sit at 6-2 once more.

More relevant history would be the Bears' Week 5 meeting with the Lions this season. The Lions were victorious in a game in which the Bears almost universally—with the exceptions of Jay Cutler, DJ Moore and Lance Briggs—failed to execute.

Considering the utter hot mess that the Bears were in their last meeting, it is understandable that they enter this game as underdogs to the favored Lions.

But wait! They actually enter this game as three-point favorites over the Pride of Detroit, which would be the point differential for home field advantage.  

Since their last meeting, the Bears haven't lost a game, including two quality wins over the Buccaneers and the Eagles.  

Meanwhile, the Lions have won just once while dropping games to the 49ers and the Falcons, but they will enter their Week 10 contest coming off an impressive 45-10 win....over the Broncos.  

Could history be repeating itself?

How can the Bears start the Lions on their way to another colossal collapse reminiscent of 2007? Several players will have to step up and make a difference where they didn't in the first meeting. Today we'll take a look at those players.

Offensive Tackles

In the first meeting between the Bears and Lions, one of the worst performing units was the offensive line, and in specific, the tackles.

The tackles have seen some fine tuning since then, with Lance Louis replacing, Frank "Gate 68" Omiyale. The line has gelled some since the switch, and the results have been positive. In fact, the line has allowed just three sacks in the past three games after allowing 74 sacks in the 21 games prior.

In Week 5, the tackle position was by far the most porous on the field, allowing three sacks, a quarterback hit and eight hurries to the Lions, along with committing four penalties.

If the Bears are to succeed, they will have to perform against the Lions' Wide 9 defensive front the way they did against the Eagles equally formidable Wide 9. And that means that J'Marcus Webb and Louis will have to play at the top of their games.

Roy Williams

Williams was still suffering a nagging hamstring injury and was still trying to build a rapport with quarterback Jay Cutler.

It's not that Williams had a bad game against Detroit. It's that you hardly knew he was there. He was targeted with one catchable pass, which he caught for an 11-yard gain and his infamous first down pose.

Beyond that, he was nonexistent.

Having Earl Bennett back helps Cutler and the Bears. But it should also help Williams, as it did last week. In addition, Williams seems to finally be developing a bit of chemistry with Cutler.

The Bears can't expect Bennett to do it all. Roy Williams must step up and be a formidable presence in this game.

Henry Melton

In his last showing against Detroit, Henry Melton put up his worst showing in his professional career. 

The entirety of his stat line from that game was one missed tackle. And if that was the worst of it, we could just chalk it up to a game he disappeared in.  

But the truth is that he didn't disappear. We saw him pancaked. We saw him out of position. We saw him get owned by the Lions' interior line.  

It's not what we're used to seeing from Melton, who might not always put up great stats but almost always puts up a great effort—the Lions game being the exception.

Julius Peppers cannot do it all on his own, and without Melton making his presence felt, Israel Idonije seems lost.

When Melton is on his game, the whole Bears defensive line—and, by association, the rest of the defense—looks different. The Bears need that type of game from Melton on Sunday.

The Safeties

The Bears safety tandem seemed to have all the promise in the world in Week 5. Chris Harris was a second-team All-Pro in 2010. Brandon Meriweather just came off his second straight Pro Bowl.

Fast forward four weeks, and Chris Harris is a Lion and Brandon Meriweather is a disappointment.

The Bears are now starting their 723,970,381st safety tandem (or maybe it was the 53rd, I forget) different safety tandem of head coach Lovie Smith's tenure. And this one is even entering its second straight game. That's gotta be a record or something.

Wright had a rough start to the season and many, including myself, called for his benching early on. But Wright has progressed since that move out of the starting lineup, and while he is still making mistakes, they are not as severe nor as disastrous.

Chris Conte, on the other hand, has kinda of went from a draft pick that fans weren't especially happy about to a budding fan favorite. He's not exactly mistake free, either. But what rookie is? At any rate, he's keeping Brandon Meriweather on the bench, and that is a service in and of itself.

The Bears need the safeties to be their "safety" net on Sunday. The Lions have this receiver—you might have heard of him—name Megatron. He's sort of a big deal.

All kidding aside, the Bears are not going to stop Calvin Johnson. But if Charles Tillman can limit him, and this young and promising safety tandem can protect the back side from big plays, then the Bears can win this game.

Brian Urlacher

The time to call out the big dog is now.

The reality is that the Lions game in Week 5 was the worst showing that the face of the franchise has had in a long time. Everyone has a bad game once in a while, and Brian Urlacher is no different. And make no mistake about it, it was a bad game.

No. 54 was out of position on several big plays from the Lions running assault, recorded two missed tackles and had a horrible game in coverage and pass rushing.  

In fact, Urlacher allowed a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating to Matthew Stafford and a perfect 100 percent completion percentage to Stafford on passes targeting him. He also gave up the go-ahead touchdown to the Pettigrew in the third quarter.

The Bears need more from 'Lach if they're to win this game and pull even with the Lions in the standings.

Basic Fundamentals

Yeah, I know. Fundamentals aren't a player. But the bears need fundamentals to show up Sunday, or they're going to be in for another long day.

If you watched the Bears and Lions play in Week 5, you know exactly what I mean. But in case you missed it, let me sum up for you the breaking down of fundamentals in stat form that occurred in the game.

Three dropped passes were recorded by three different receivers. Nine missed tackles were recorded by seven different defensive players. 14 penalties including nine false starts were committed by the Bears. The defense gave up touchdowns on an 88-yard run and a 73-yard pass. And the offensive line allowed three sacks, two quarterback hits and 22 hurries on Jay Cutler.

Take a minute and let those numbers sink in.

To say the Bears executed poorly is to understate the horrible effort the Bears put up in that game. That the Bears were leading at halftime and still in the game in the fourth quarter is a testament to the efforts of Jay Cutler, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman and DJ Moore, who all put in very good games in the losing effort.

Since that game, the Bears have vastly improved in nearly every area above. That trend must continue Sunday, or the Bears could very possibly be shooting their playoff aspirations in the foot.

And now it's your turn, ladies and gentlemen. There's a soapbox below for you to step on and let your voice be heard. Have at it!