The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ season opener Sunday in Detroit:
RICK MORRISSEY
Lions 21-17
I know the storyline is that Mitch Trubisky will come out eyes ablaze Sunday, looking to reward Bears coaches for their confidence in him. And the Lions aren’t that good. But I have a hard time letting go of the Mitch who has the bad habit of driving everyone crazy. Seventeen points from the Bears’ offense sounds about right.
RICK TELANDER
Bears 21-18
This is like making a prediction on whether a June bug could beat a mayfly. You really got any idea, folks? You know anything about the Lions? Anything about the Bears? Mainly what we know is Trubisky. And a promising D. The end.
PATRICK FINLEY
Bears 17-16
Sunday will be bizarre: no fans, no man standing on the sideline singing “Gridiron Heroes,” the team’s fight song, into a live microphone; and Kid Rock songs bouncing off empty seats. Bears coach Matt Nagy’s always been good at manufacturing “juice.” The winning team will have to do just that.
JASON LIESER
Bears 17-13
The Lions hung with the Bears reasonably well last year, but both games were near the end of the season when Akiem Hicks was out and the defense was drained. They’ll face the freshest, strongest version of that defense Sunday and won’t cover much ground.
MARK POTASH
Bears 20-13
Lions coach Matt Patricia not only can’t stop Trubisky, he can’t even contain him — Trubisky has passer ratings of 148.6, 131.0 and 118.1 vs. the Lions in Nagy’s offense. Even with Matthew Stafford back, this looks like a good spot for the Bears.
