Thanksgiving is here and that’s means football will be on all day long. The first game will feature the Chicago Bears facing the Detroit Lions, two NFC North opponents who are looking to stay in the playoff race. Today’s game will air on Fox at 12:30 p.m. ET. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will have the call.
The Bears are 5-6 on the year and it’s been a disappointing season after winning the division last year. They are in eighth place in the NFC and three games behind the Minnesota Vikings for the final wild-card spot. Last week, the Bears were able to come away with a 19-14 win over the New York Giants too keep their playoff hopes alive. Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has had a tough 2019 season, but Bears fans are hoping for a repeat performance against the Lions, throwing for three touchdowns and posting a quarterback rating of 131 in the Week 10 meeting.
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“Nobody’s perfect out there,” Trubisky said per the team’s official website when talking about the struggles they have had on offense. “I make mistakes, guys make mistakes, it just so happens that on offense, if the right guy makes the mistake then the play is not going to work, and the advantage goes to the defense.”
The Lions are 3-7-1 on the year and they will be without their star quarterback Matthew Stafford who is dealing with a back injury. Last week, Detroit suffered a 19-16 loss to the Washington Redskins and they have now lost four straight games. Jeff Driskel has taken over at quarterback for Stafford and he played in the Week 10 meeting against the Bears. In that game, Driskel threw for 269 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 20-13 loss.
Driskel is now dealing with a hamstring injury and rookie David Blough will start today. He will make his NFL debut after being the team’s No. 3 or backup QB the entire year.
“We’ll have competitive periods against offense versus defense, along with our preparation periods that we use each week,” Lions head coach Matt Patricia said per ESPN when talking about getting Blough ready for his first start. “We like to take those different kind of chances during the week to mix up some of the huddles and who is out there and who is not. We do it really at all positions, and certainly, Blough is one of those guys that it’s important for us to do that with, too.”
After the Lions vs. Bears game, the Dallas Cowboys will host the Buffalo Bills. And for the primetime game, the Atlanta Falcons will host the New Orleans Saints.
