(t-12th) and don’t sleep on Tarik Cohe

The Detroit Lions didn’t put up much of a performance against the Minnesota Vikings last week Kerryon Johnson Jersey , and the Pro Football Focus grades reflect that. Against the Dolphins, the Lions’ top four performers had a grade of 74.9 or better. Against the Vikings, they didn’t have a single player on offense with a grade that high. Still, there was a notable performance or two, so let’s get into it.OffenseOn a day in which the offensive line was absolutely terrorized, it’s good to see that first-round pick Frank Ragnow actually came out of it fairly unscathed. A 74.4 grade is actually very good by PFF standards these days, and that should give the Lions some hope for the future. Unfortunately, the only other offensive lineman to crack the top five was someone the Lions probably can’t account for in this team’s future. T.J. Lang has been great when he’s been able to stay on the field, but injuries have just dominated his career in the past two years.Then there’s Matthew Stafford. Stafford obviously didn’t crack the top five, and that’s because he was very bad by PFF’s standards. According to Matt Stopsky of PFF, Stafford earned just a 54.8 grade last week and was credited as responsible for three of the 10 sacks on the day. Additionally, he wasn’t very good with a clean pocket, earning a passing grade of 70.9 on those plays—good for 16th out of 24 qualifying Week 9 quarterbacks. What’s there left to say about Damon Harrison Sr.? The man is already the best player on the Lions defense and he’s only been around for two weeks. He’s an absolute force when he’s in the game and he’s very clearly a perfect fit in Matt Patricia’s system. His 90.3 grade wasn’t enough to make PFF’s Week 9 Team of the Week, but he did grade out as the fourth-best interior lineman for the week. It may surprise you to see Glover Quin with a great grade, since there were two plays in which his lack of speed and/or slowed reaction time was on display. However, the veteran safety led all defensive backs with four solo tackles on Sunday. Ezekiel Ansah didn’t crack the top five defensive players in his return, but he did show some promise. Per Stopsky, Ansah was credited with a pressure on three of his 11 pass-rushing snaps, earning him a “win percentage” of 27.3, the sixth highest among qualifying edge defenders in Week 9.Add in the fact that A’Shawn Robinson continues to play well after his Week 1 benching, and it looks like there may be hope for this defensive line still. The Chicago Bears could very well be this year’s surprise team. While fans in Chicago would argue this was no surprise to them, I don’t think anyone expected this team to be in first place in the NFC North halfway through the season. But are the Bears truly contenders in 2018 or are they waiting to be exposed? Let’s take a look at the Detroit Lions’ Week 10 opponent. Chicago BearsLast season5-11 record (Fourth in the NFC North)29th in points scored, 9th in points allowedOverall DVOA: 25th (28th on offense Tracy Walker Jersey , 14th on defense)2018 offseasonKey free agent additions: WR Allen Robinson II, TE Trey Burton, WR Taylor Gabriel, K Cody Parkey, LB Aaron Lynch, EDGE Khalil MackKey losses: LB Pernell McPhee, EDGE Willie Young, G Josh Sitton, LB Christian Jones, 2018 NFL draft picks:Round 1, 8 overall - LB Roquan SmithRound 2, Pick 39 - G James DanielsRound 2, Pick 51 - WR Anthony MillerRound 4, Pick 115 - LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe Round 5, Pick 145 - DT Bilal Nichols Round 6, Pick 181 - DE Kylie FittsRound 7, Pick 224 - WR Javon WimsRound 7, Pick 225 - LB Devante Downs The Chicago Bears offense was an absolute mess under John Fox, and this offseason the Bears finally did something about it. Their biggest move was obviously hiring former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their new head coach, but they gave him a slew of new offensive weapons to help out, too. Grabbing Allen Robinson II was a savvy, underrated move this offseason, while Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel rounded out Mitchell Trubisky’s new slate of friends.The defense was sneaky good last year Da’Shawn Hand Jersey , and that’s why Nagy decided to keep defensive coordinator Vic Fangio around despite the regime change. And then the Bears went out and put the cherry on top of a solid offseason by trading for former Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack away from Oakland Chucky Dolls. 2018 season thus far (5-3)Week 1: Loss to Packers, 23-24Week 2: Win over Seahawks, 24-17Week 3: Win over Cardinals, 16-14Week 4: Win over Buccaneers, 48-10Week 6: Loss to Dolphins, 28-31 (OT)Week 7: Loss to Patriots, 31-38Week 8: Win over Jets, 24-10Week 9: Win over Bills, 41-9Stats:5th in points scored, 4th in points allowed4th in DVOA (10th on offense, 1st on defense, 26th on special teams)This has all turned around faster than I think even the most optimistic Bears fans thought this offseason—and there were a lot of optimistic Bears fans.While the Bears are still searching for a clear, decisive win over a strong contender, they’re currently doing everything short of that: blowing out bad teams, steadily improving every week, and coming pretty darn close to taking down some good teams. No one will argue the Bears defense is among the league’s best, but let me convince you anyways. They’re both fourth in points per game allowed and yards per play allowed. First in DVOA, first in passer rating allowed (80.5), fifth in yards per carry allowed (3.7)and second in takeaways. Oh, and Khalil Mack hasn’t even played in the last two games, and the Bears allowed just 19 points combined in those two contests.The Bears offense, however, is probably not quite as good as the stats suggest. While fifth in points scored certainly seems impressive Jarrad Davis Jersey , that is largely aided by defensive touchdowns and turnovers. Chicago leads the league in four defensive scores, and their offense currently starts with the sixth-best average field position. The Bears are averaging the 11th-most points per drive, which is only okay considering the fantastic field position. A look at Mitchell Trubisky’s standard statistics would make you think he’s made some drastic improvements from his rookie year. Take a look:2017: 59.4% completion rate, 6.6 Y/A, 77.5 passer rating2018: 64.2% completion rate, 7.5 Y/A, 96.1 passer ratingHowever, this is the result more of scheme change than actual improvement from Trubisky. The Bears offense is centered around shorter passes, with the occasional deep throws. Granted, Trubisky has done a pretty good job connecting on those shot plays, but if you look at his Pro Football Focus grade, he ranks just 29th among starting quarterbacks. But Trubisky debate aside, this Bears offense has been efficient. Headed by a solid duo of running backs, the Bears are averaging 4.4 yards per carry (t-12th) and don’t sleep on Tarik Cohen as a receiving threat. The second-year player has 31 catches for 406 yards and three touchdowns this year. For comparison’s sake, Kenny Golladay has 28 catches for 477 yards and three touchdowns.To answer this article’s question, yes, the Bears are for real. They probably are still a year away from competing for a championship, but this team is absolutely going to make some noise this year both in the division and in the playoff race. They’re still going to need to prove their worth against the NFL’s elite, but they’ve proven they don’t belong with the middle-of-the-pack teams either. And this week, they’re likely getting Allen Robinson II, young tight end Adam Shaheen and Mack back from injury. The Lions have themselves a real challenge this week.Vegas line for Sunday: Bears by 7