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Lions vs Bears: Random Stats, Part Two

Taking a second look at the Lions' history with the Bears.

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

What a difference ten weeks make. It wasn't that long ago that the Chicago Bears served the Detroit Lions their last loss before Detroit went on a 7-1 run. Here we are again in Week 14 and it seems as though the world is a completely different place. The Lions have an opportunity to do something they haven't done in 23 years: Win a division title.

Beating the Bears on Sunday is a crucial key to that success. But before we get to that, we have to back in time and learn how this rivalry got... Wait, didn't we do this already? We did. See I got lucky the last time the Lions faced a division rival for the second time, it was Thanksgiving. Therefore Random Stats was Turkey Day themed. Now things are different.

I fully encourage you to go back and read Week 4's Random Stats before this Sunday's game. Today's version will be a bit different. I want to know what the people want to know. So we went to Twitter and asked our amazing readers what they wanted to know. Here's what we came up with.

I was pretty blown away when I saw this. Yes, the Lions are 7-6 against the Bears with Matthew Stafford under center. But, man, he has played some bad games against Chicago, especially early in his career. Stafford's total stat line against the Bears is 314 completions out of 503 attempts, 3,472 yards, 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He's thrown an interception in all but three of the 13 matchups. Let's hope this trend doesn't continue on Sunday.

That's a good question. The Lions are taking on the Bears with third string quarterback Matt Barkley this weekend. Let's see how history has panned out.

Year Player Score Win/Loss
1986 Doug Flutie 16-13 Loss
1988 Mike Tomczak 24-7 Loss
1988 Jim Harbaugh 13-12 Loss
1989 Jim Harbaugh 27-17 Win
1994 Erik Kramer 21-16 Win
1997 Steve Stenstrom 26-3 Win
1999 Cade McNown 28-10 Loss
1999 Jim Miller 21-17 Win
2000 Shane Matthews 23-20 Loss
2002 Chris Chandler 23-20 Win
2002 Chris Chandler 20-17 Loss
2004 Chad Hutchinson 19-13 Win
2004 Rex Grossman 20-16 Win
2007 Brian Griese 37-27 Win
2007 Brian Griese 16-7 Win
2014 Jimmy Clausen 20-14 Win

Not bad. The Lions are 10-6 all time when playing against a Bears team that's starting its backup. As for the Lions with a backup quarterback, let's hope we never have to see that again. But here are the stats.

Year Quarterback Score Win/Loss
1954 Tom Dublinski 28-24 Loss
1957 Tobin Rote 21-13 Win
1959 Earl Morrall 24-14 Loss
1960 Earl Morrall 36-0 Win
1961 Earl Morrall 31-17 Loss
1964 Earl Morrall 10-0 Win
1963 Milt Plum 31-21 Loss
1966 Milt Plum 14-3 Loss
1967 Milt Plum 14-3 Loss
1969 Greg LAndry 13-7 Win
1973 Bill Munson 30-7 Win
1973 Bill Munson 40-7 Win
1975 Bill Munson 30-7 Win
1975 Joe Reed 25-21 Loss
1976 Joe Reed 10-3 Loss
1984 John Witkowski 30-13 Loss
1985 Joe Ferguson 37-13 Loss
1986 Chuck Long 16-13 Loss
1989 Bob Gagliano 27-17 Win
1991 Erik Kramer 16-6 Win
1991 Erik Kramer 20-10 Loss
1992 Andre Ware 16-3 Win
1993 Erik Kramer 20-14 Win
1994 Dave Krieg 20-10 Loss
1999 Gus Frerotte 21-17 Win
2001 Ty Detmer 24-0 Loss
2005 Jeff Garcia 19-13 Loss
2008 Dan Orlovsky 37-23 Loss
2010 Daunte Culpepper 37-23 Loss
2010 Drew Stanton 24-20 Loss

Not so good on this end. 12-18. I guess it's not as bad as one might think. But man, unless it's Bill Munson, I really don't want any Lions backup in the game against the Bears.

The Bears have, unfortunately, but it's really not that bad at all. The Lions are 39-46-2 against the Bears in the second meeting of the season. The good news is that they've won every single one of them since 2013. So that's cool.

Well that depends on who you think the worst coaches in these teams' history is. For the Lions it's easily Rod Marinelli. The guy went 0-16. For the Bears, it's Jim Dooley, according to many Bears fans on the internet. Their combined records are 30-74. Their combined win percentage is a chunky .288. Pretty bad. Pretty bad indeed.

The Bears have sacked Matthew Stafford 28 times since 2009. That's not as bad as it sounds. The Lions should still be prepared to block this Sunday. The Bears defensive line is playing well in 2016.

Well actually [pauses a moment to push glasses closer to face] not all bears hibernate, despite popular belief. According to Yellowstone National Park, some species go into a deep sleep during the winter, but do not hibernate as hibernation implies they sleep all winter long. Bears winter sleep habits depend on location and temperature and can range anywhere from seven weeks to seven months. Credit to Yellowstone for the article and to my wife for looking it up for me.

There you have it, Lions fans. Thank you to everyone who sent questions this week. We'll see you again next week when the Lions face the Giants. Be sure to send questions or comments below.

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