It’s been more than a decade since the Lions have been on Monday night football. But when’s the last time the Lions were undefeated (4-0), tied atop their division and favorites over the Chicago Bears?

The Buffalo Bills’ upset at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals dropped them from the heady ranks of the top 5 in NFL.com’s latest Power Poll, but otherwise there wasn’t much change at the top, with Green Bay and New Orleans leading the way.

This week, the Playbook research staff started its day by putting aside watching every game from Minute 1 to Minute 60. But that doesn’t mean we took a real break.

When you join Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as the only Bears running backs ever to rush for 200 yards in a game, you’re big-time in Chicago.

Up to this point, we have avoided targeting the real stars of today’s NFL — the pass catchers. So, to all the gun-slinging divas and sticky-gloved jockeys out there, this is your week.

Poor Jay Cutler. The guy has been pummeled during his time with the Bears thanks to Mike Martz’s pass-happy offense and his reluctance to scale back.

Things get heated when Jamie Dukes and Tom Waddle go head-to-head on a numver hot topics, including Jay Cutler‘s reliability standing behind a shaky offensive line, and which team will remain undefeated the longest.

You have probably heard the phrase “a team is only as strong as its weakest link.” In the NFL, the difference between a team’s weakest link and their strongest can determine the outcome of a game.

Leading up to Sunday, we did a little tape study and tried to find a few links that could be broken.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been called a genius at game-planning, but just watch him struggle to change the clock on his car’s dashboard.

Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris joined the “Cover Two Podcast” on Tuesday and made a few things clear: He intends to win the NFC South, LeGarrette Blount deserves to get the ball as much as possible and that his dubbing of his team as “Youngry” stemmed from a mistake.

Bears safety Major Wright looks to have avoided what initially appeared to be a more serious injury during the third quarter against the Saints.

Bears starting RT Gabe Carimi and Saints LB Jonathan Vilma left Sunday’s game during the second quarter with injuries.

Bears WR Roy Williams isn’t expected to play in the Week 2 matchup against the Saints, according to a team source.

Dez Bryant isn’t a sure thing to play on Sunday, meaning other Cowboys receivers could benefit against San Francisco.

Olin Kreutz will play against, not with, the Bears for the first time in his 14-year NFL career Sunday. The center admits it’s not just another game.