The Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions both lost in disappointing fashion in Week 1, meaning they will both be motivated to get back on track.
For me, the Bears’ offense and the Lions’ defense were the most disappointing parts of their opening to the season. Too often, we saw the Bears’ offense sputter out and the Lions’ defense give up big plays down the field.
So something has got to give.
Terrion Arnold vs. D.J. Moore
If the Bears are going to be successful in Week 2, Moore is going to have to win at the line, earning the ball quickly
against a dangerous player in Aidan Hutchinson. Consequently, if Detroit is going to earn their first victory, they will need to shore up their secondary quickly.
In Week 1, DJ Moore was the Bears’ most effective pass-catcher with 3 catches for 68 yards (and 3 carries for 8 yards to boot). While the Lions will mix up their coverages and place DJ Reed, Brian Branch and others on Moore throughout the game, I would expect a heavy dose of Terrion Arnold.
Arnold, the heralded 2nd year player out of Alabama, had a rough game to kick off the 2025 season. In 16 coverage snaps, Arnold gave up 4 receptions for 88 yards, a TD, and a passer rating of 149.5. That…is not very good.
Arnold is a bigger corner who has great long speed to keep stride downfield, but he has shown some struggles at being able to change direction quickly, allowing a lot of receivers to get quick separation. He went up against Jayden Reed quite a bit in Week 1, a player with a similar quick-twitch style to Moore, so I would expect Arnold to get a similar assignment with the Bears.
If the Bears are going to be successful, DJ Moore is going to need to exploit that weakness whenever Arnold is lined up against him. I would expect Ben Johnson to be coaching Caleb hard this week on the importance of getting the ball out quickly, which only reinforces the need for a quick passing attack to Moore.
If the Lions are going to win, Arnold is going to have to step up. Arnold had 10 passes defended in his rookie season, a testament to his big frame. If he is going to win one-on-one vs Moore, he will need to utilize that frame to break up passes.
