The Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions are two NFL franchises in rough spots right now.
The Bears may or may not be firing their head coach, while the Lions cannot win a game.
Which reality is worse?
These two dysfunctional teams are also set to grace our television sets on Thanksgiving in the first of three NFL games on the day.
The matchup did not feature much star power to begin with, and lost even more luster when it was announced Andy Dalton would start over the injured Justin Fields.
As for the Lions, Jared Goff remains questionable.
Even if he does play, that is not exactly a boost to the team’s chances.
The Lions have little hope in 2021 without Matthew Stafford under center and one historical stat proves just how badly they miss him.
Fun fact: #Bears have won last 7 games they've played vs. Lions when Detroit started QB other than Matthew Stafford. They've defeated Dan Orlovsky (twice in 2008), Daunte Culpepper (2009), Drew Stanton (2010), Jeff Driskel (2019), David Blough (2019) and Jared Goff (2021).
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) November 24, 2021
Not only can they not win without him now, but the Bears have owned the Lions without Stafford in the past as well.
What A Win Would Mean
So let’s say history repeats itself and the Bears take down the Lions on Thanksgiving.
That gets Chicago to 4-7 and according to reports, could be Matt Nagy’s last game.
A loss would certainly send him packing, but a win should not change much.
Tim Boyle vs Andy Dalton. I’m sorry America, this is not right https://t.co/t6PRqCsNJJ
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) November 23, 2021
His main task this year is developing Fields and the rookie not even being on the field takes away any focus on Nagy’s most important task this year.
All evaluation is thrown out the door on the holiday, not that ownership really needs to see too much more from the head coach.
Nagy appears to be a lame duck coach and that is a terrible spot to be in.
He just has to hope his team doesn’t break tradition and get upset, because that would surely make his tenure end during the holiday season.
NEXT: Bears Fans Left In The Dark About Matt Nagy's Job Status