Opponent Preview: Detroit Lions face Atlanta Falcons in Week 16, Chicago Bears in Week 17
This is the final entry in our opponent preview for the Detroit Lions.
The final two weeks will throw up two brilliant fixtures for the Lions with two games at Ford Field against teams that on paper are more or less at par with Detroit.
Detroit will be looking for victories in both these fixtures but this will not be an easy task for them as the Falcons and Bears are tough customers and it will be interesting to see how the Lions deliver when the pressure is really on.
Week 16: Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons last season were a team that on its day performed brilliantly but could succumb to pressure situations.
They ended the regular season with a 10-6 record and made it to the playoffs. However, most of those victories came against relatively easy opponents while they struggled to deliver in the crunch games.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the playoff wildcard round game against the New York Giants.
The Falcons offence failed to score a single point and they were knocked out of the playoffs making this the third time in recent seasons that the franchise has failed to progress beyond the first game of the playoffs.
They will be looking to change that poor run this year but first they will need to qualify again and the game against Lions in Week 16 may make or break their hopes of once again reaching the postseason.
Head-to-Head
Both teams have come up against each other 34 times.
Detroit has won 23 of those encounters while the Falcons have won 11. No games were tied between the two.
Week 17: Chicago Bears
It could turn out to be a crunch game or a dead rubber with no effect on the playoff race.
Whatever the case this will be a game to savour.
Both these division rivals have no love lost for each other and the encounter will be a highly charged rivalry game.
The Detroit Lions who have faced years of torment at the hands of Chicago Bears will be looking to show that they are no more the easy pushovers for the Bears.
Tags: