Lions vs. Bears bold prediction: Montgomery gets revenge on Thanksgiving

Check out our bold prediction for this week’s Thanksgiving matchup against the Chicago Bears.

The Detroit Lions enter Thanksgiving week as one of the league’s hottest teams. Despite winning last week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts by 18 points on the road, it felt like an off week for the Lions—that’s how good they are right now. They enter Week 13 hosting a Chicago Bears team that’s still a hard read.

On the one hand, the Bears started 4-2 and have taken several good teams down to the wire, including losses to the Vikings and the Packers the last two weeks by a combined four points. On the other hand, they’ve gotten blown out by some mediocre teams, such as losses to the Patriots and Cardinals the two weeks prior by a total of 36 points. Any given week, it’s unclear whether Caleb Williams looks like the future of the franchise or a guy overwhelmed by the speed of the NFL.

On the Lions side, the offense is clicking right now, led by two unstoppable running backs in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Montgomery came to the Lions in free agency from the Chicago Bears, so he surely has this game circled on his calendar. Could we be in for a big game from Monty?

Bold prediction of the week: David Montgomery scores 2+ touchdowns against Bears

David Montgomery is red-hot, but he’s still splitting duties with Jahmy Gibbs, and that makes it hard to find the end zone once, let alone twice. Monty has scored multiple rushing touchdowns just twice this year. Even last year when the Lions played the Bears, Montgomery didn’t post astronomical stat lines. He finished those games with 66 yards and 76 yards & a touchdown, respectively. Despite the low production, Monty was incredibly efficient. He averaged 6.6 and 6.3 yards per carry in those two contests, respectively.

Entering this week, all the major betting lines have Montgomery’s over/under at 0.5 touchdowns. If I were a betting man, I’d be smashing the over. The folks in Allen Park know that they have yet to get a Thanksgiving win under the Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes regime, and they’ve got their eyes on the prize. From our Jeremy Reisman in this week’s Pride of Detroit Direct newsletter:

Talking with several Lions players and coaches this week, you can tell they’re hopeful to have one more thing to be thankful for this Thursday: a Lions win… Campbell admitted he hasn’t been fun at home to be around after the past three Thanksgivings. Jared Goff said he’d like to enjoy his Thanksgiving dinner for once.

Despite the short week, expect the Lions to be locked in and humming on offense. If David Montgomery can continue last year’s efficiency against the Bears, it should translate to solid production against his former team despite nursing a shoulder injury this week. It’s far from a guarantee, but if there were a time for Monty’s third multi-touchdown game of the year, it would be now.