Week 12 gambling guide: Detroit’s ground game is here to stay

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell assumed playcalling duties two weeks ago after the team’s bye week, and in as many weeks, the team has taken on the physical mentality often associated with Campbell after his introductory press conference outlined the vision he had for this football team.

They’re scratching, they’re clawing, they’re talking about opposing player’s mothers—okay, that wasn’t exactly what Campbell had in mind, but you get the picture. This football team is still in search of winning their first game in Campbell’s inaugural season as head coach, and in the past two weeks, they’ve adopted a conservative, ground-oriented attack that’s resulted in them tying the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-16, and narrowly losing to the Cleveland Browns, 13-10.

Detroit’s no stranger to close defeats this season, losing on last-second field goals to both the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings by the exact same score of 19-17.

But what has become strange is their unwillingness to throw the football downfield at all. Granted the team is without both their No. 1 and No. 2 wide receivers from the start of this season—they’re both not even on the roster anymore—and Jared Goff has looked like a shell of even his worst self in Los Angeles, but things didn’t change in the slightest last week when backup Tim Boyle made his first career start. Even equipped with a new No. 1 wideout in Josh Reynolds, a player looking to prove himself after not cracking the depth chart in Tennessee, the Lions continued to dink and dunk and just flat-out abandon the pass in favor of the run game.

And you know what: AAbsolutely nothing is going to change this week against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving. The Lions are desperately in search of their first win to get the monkey off their back, and it seems like they’re not apt to trying anything else other than what has almost won them a football game.

And you know what: it just might work this week. The Lions find themselves the perfect opponent on Thursday to run at incessantly in the Chicago Bears. Over their past five games, the Bears’ run defense has definitely taken a step back from their early-season success.

So for this week’s matchup between Lions and Bears, we’re going all in on D’Andre Swift and the Lions’ knack for keeping games close as of late. Here’s the same-game parlay I’ve had in the oven for hours, basted routinely, and now serve to you, weary gamblers, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook:

D’Andre Swift OVER 64.5 rushing yards

D’Andre Swift OVER 19.5 receiving yards

Detroit Lions +10.5