Just a month ago, the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football and won by a score of 24-13 to extend their winning streak to five games to start the 2011 season. Since then, the Lions have dropped two games (in back-to-back weeks) and won one (against the Denver Broncos). They had their bye last week and are set to begin the second half of the season with another game against the Bears on Sunday.
Chicago has played quite well since the loss to the Lions. On Monday this week, the Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, and in previous weeks they won games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in London, England) and Minnesota Vikings.
Because of what has happened in the last month, the Bears enter Sunday's game with a chance to move into a tie for second place in the NFC North. Detroit stands at 6-2 and Chicago is currently 5-3. If the Bears win, both teams will have a 6-3 record, and perhaps more importantly, each team will have a head-to-head win (that could be a factor for a spot in the playoffs if there is a tie). A Lions win, on the other hand, would give Detroit a pretty good cushion over Chicago, as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker. Needless to say, this is a big game for both teams.
Sunday's game is set to kick off at 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time). FOX will have the broadcast of the game.