It’s a trap!

After coming down from the high of that tremendous goal line stand against the Eagles I started thinking about next week against the Lions. The first thing that jumped to mind was “3-2 here we come!” and something tells me that might have jumped to mind for a few Bears players too.

So you know what that makes this? A classic trap game. A presumed win against a down and out opponent the inevitably proves the old saying about “any given Sunday”.

Someone suggested to me, can a 2-2 team really have a trap game? And it’s a fair point. Don’t you need to have risen to some level beyond mediocre before you can get “trapped” by anyone? He’s probably right.

Still the Bears do sit atop the NFC North and have to be feeling pretty good after beating a team like the Eagles. But after watching the 2007 team fail to win back-to-back games until the final two games of the year, then compounding it with the letdown that was the Panthers game coming off their season opening win, it becomes pretty evident that this team might have some issues with momentum.

Then you look at the Detroit Lions. An inferior team that somehow managed to beat the Bears twice last season. Two games that had they gone the other way would’ve put the Bears right in the thick of the playoff race.

They’ve had the bye week to prepare for the game. They’re still looking for their first win of the season. And they finally jettisoned albatross Matt Millen, which might remove a huge emotional burden (or at the very least raise the average football IQ at Ford Field).

There’s also the added caveat of a few Bears’ injuries that could make for huge mismatches. Charles Tillman’s injury leaves Corey Graham covering either Calvin Johnson or Roy Williams. And Brandon Lloyd’s injury could leave no one for the Lions to cover at all.

So before you get too excited and start wondering what sort of defensive fronts the Bears will use to confuse rookie Matt Ryan down in Atlanta, don’t forget about the Lions. Because the Bears saved their season Sunday night along Lake Michigan, but they can just as easily throw it away when the travel to the other side this weekend.