(670 The Score) It's Week 17. For most of our adult lives, this has meant the merciful end – the last week of the long, painful slog that is a three-win football season. One more noon kickoff to hide behind when all your weekend chores sneak up on you. But not anymore! Now the penultimate game of the Bears' season, this early New Year's Day game in Detroit against the Lions on Sunday arrives with about as much excitement and anticipation as the circumstances will allow for. Is it going to be interesting? That depends on what you find interesting. But probably not. Will it be entertaining? Maybe! Justin Fields is that dude, and the Lions aren't scrubs either. Will it end at some point? We can only hope. Here are a few matchups to keep an eye on between your second-quarter and late-third-quarter naps.
Bears guard Teven Jenkins vs. Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson
How often Jenkins and Hutchinson actually go up against each other in one-on-one scenarios remains to be seen, but these are the best two players on their teams' respective units. The good news for Chicago is that Detroit's pass rush is, uh, not good. As a team, the Lions rank 25th in ESPN's pass rush win rate and in Football Outsider's adjusted sack rate (6.1%). Of the Lions' 30 sacks, Hutchinson is responsible for seven of them. Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 25th-best edge rusher (out of 120) in the NFL. So, he's good. He's probably not quite Defensive Rookie of the Year good, but still, he's good. Then there's Jenkins, who has shown this season that he's more than capable of holding his own in these types of matchups. He's also, you'll remember, coming off one of the more scary-looking in-game injuries that any Bears player suffered this season. It was good to see him as a full participant in practice Wednesday, although that hasn't exactly been a guarantee of ability for this team of late. In reality, this will probably be Hutchinson vs. Cody Whitehair/Larry Borom/Sam Mustipher, but that isn't interesting to talk about. Also, it's Week 17.
Bears CB Kyler Gordon vs. Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
The Lions' offense can sling it. They rank No. 7 overall in pass DVOA, and St. Brown is one of only eight receivers who has 90 or more receptions heading into the final two weeks of the season. League-wide, he ranks 10th in receiving yards (1,056) – he's the youngest Detroit wide receiver to surpass 1,000 yards in team history – and leads the Lions in touchdown catches (six). On the other side is Gordon, who has looked – for the most part – great in the second half of this season. After spending almost the entire season as the team's nickel cornerback, Gordon lined up outside for 51 snaps against the Bills last week. Before that, the most he had played out wide was 31 snaps in Week 4. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the injured Bears players who aren't on the field anymore, but it's insanely encouraging that in his first game as CB1, against the Bills' Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, Gordon put up one of his three best PFF coverage grades of the season. The interceptions have been nice, if not a little routine. He's making the plays that come to him though, which is about all you can ask of a rookie. If Gordon can put together a few good weeks of tape to end the season, the Bears' secondary looks awfully dangerous heading into next year.
Bears QB Justin Fields vs. anyone on the Lions' defense you can think of
At the end of the day, this is the only reason why most people are still tuning in, right? Fields has become appointment television this season, especially considering wins don't exactly "exist" anymore. Seeing what he does on any given snap is worth the effort of getting out of bed before noon (or right at noon, no judgment here) on New Year's Day. On a couple different occasions earlier this season, Fields talked about how much faster he feels on turf, which only adds to the excitement. Also, the Bears get to play a bit of a spoiler role in these last two weeks – the Lions have long odds to make the postseason but are still most certainly In The Hunt. Ending a divisional rival's season early isn't as important to Fields' development as much as it's just a cool thing to do, but that's really the only thing on the line this Sunday. A back-breaking 40-yard touchdown run to end the Lions' surprising and exciting playoff push would be one of the best moments of the season. I must have it.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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