Bears Make Change at QB For Game with Lions

By Charles Jay

The Chicago Bears have seen their situation deteriorate quickly, and that has left the media, not mention BetAnySports customers, in speculation mode, wondering about the future of a number of key people in the organization. Now head coach Marc Trestman, who is one of the key people in question, has made one of the more controversial decisions of the NFL season, as he takes his team into battle against the Detroit Lions, who are feeling a sense of urgency at the moment. Football betting action at Soldier Field, which the Bears have stunk out over their last couple of outings, is scheduled for 1 PM ET.

The Bears signed Jay Cutler to a contract extension in the off-season which included over $50 million in guaranteed money. That now looks like a foolish investment, as Cutler has turned the ball over more than anybody else. Seeking something to spark his offense, Trestman is now turning the offense over to former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who doesn’t exactly fit the description of someone who could be referred to as a “quarterback of the future.”

The Lions have won three straight games and have forged a tie with the Green Bay Packers at the top of the NFC North. And they get to play Green Bay next week,with all the marbles quite possibly at stake. But they have to avoid looking past this game against an opponent that has clearly been folding.

Detroit is 10-4 straight-up and 7-7 against the spread. Chicago is 5-8 straight-up and versus the number.

NFL betting odds are up at BetAnySports, and the Lions are favored by close to double digits:

Detroit Lions -9.5
Chicago Bears +9.5

Over 44 points -110
Under 44 points -110

Nobody really has all that much confidence in Clausen; the former Carolina Panther signal-caller never really lived up to the hype he generated when he was a legendary high school passer. He won only one of his ten starts for Carolina in the 2010 season. But it is obvious that at this point, Trestman ran out of patience with Cutler who has now thrown 18 interceptions and fumbled the ball away six times. A team that was supposed to be a high-octane unit managed just 278 yards last week against New Orleans, which has a defense that is so bad that coordinator Rob Ryan and head coach Sean Payton have literally been at each other’s throats.

Clausen is, at this point of his career, little more than a journeyman, and as far as BetAnySports customers should look at it, that means that regardless of what he does in these final two games, it isn’t likely to save Trestman’s job. Some members of the media have speculated that this is part of management’s way of communicating to other players that no one’s job is safe. The irony here, of course, is that the individual management jobs are probably not safe either, and most of the players who are getting this “message” sent to them will be around longer than they will.

The plan is for Clausen to go into the game with a somewhat scaled-down playbook, which should make it easier for the Lions’ defense, which is not only second in the league in yards allowed per drive and third in points allowed per drive, but also #1 in interceptions per drive, as they have 19 on the season. If the Bears are hoping to get a ground game established, they may be unpleasantly surprised, as Detroit has permitted just 3.1 yards per rushing attempt.

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