Two storied franchises clash on Monday Night when the Chicago Bears travel to New England to take on the Patriots.
Chicago Bears (2-4) at New England Patriots (3-3)
Game Details:
- Location: Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA
- Time: Monday, October 24th at 8:15 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
Betting Stats:
- SPREAD: NE -8.5
- OVER/UNDER: 40.5
Preview:
This Chicago Bears offense is a mess. We saw it on the national stage last Thursday when the Bears lost to the Commanders. In that game, Bears quarterback Justin Fields ran for a game-high 88 rushing yards but threw for only 190 yards while completing 14 of 27 passes.
After the game, head coach Matt Eberflus said that the team would make changes from top to bottom, from everything to scheme and personnel on both sides of the ball. While that might be necessary, it’s hard to truly trust that it will happen.
On the season, Fields has not been given many chances to let it fly, but he also hasn’t given the team much confidence that he should be given more chances. He has a 55 percent completion rate, is averaging 144.8 passing yards per game, and has more turnovers (six) than touchdowns (five).
Fields also has a problem with holding the ball too long to try and make things happen. That’s an issue behind a mediocre offensive line that has allowed 23 sacks which is tied for the most in the league. Fields has been tremendous on the ground, but he will need to be much more in order for Chicago to win on Monday.
In addition to just Fields, Chicago owns the second-ranked rushing offense in the NFL. Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery have combined for 648 rushing yards and four touchdowns and accounted for 162 of the team’s 237 rushing yards last week.
However, they may find the sledding a bit tougher against the Patriots, who are firing on all cylinders on defense right now. Last week, the Pats held the Browns, the number-one rushing attack in the league, to just 70 yards on 18 carries. They should be up for the task against the Bears.
They should also be able to force a few turnovers since they have 12 on the season and have forced at least two in five straight games. Chicago is prone to mistakes on offense, which could lead to a few big plays from this New England defense.
On the offensive side of the ball, the biggest storyline for the Patriots is whether or not Mac Jones should just be handed the starting job back after Bailey Zappe played so well. It seems as though Jones will start Monday after missing two games because of an ankle injury, but Zappe went 41-for-55 for 497 yards with three touchdowns and an interception over those games while Jones has to touchdowns and five interceptions on the season.
If Jones doesn’t look 100%, will Belichick go back to Zappe? The Patriots certainly can’t risk falling below .500 with the rest of the AFC East playing as well as they have been.
Another piece of positive news for the Patriots is that running back Damien Harris practiced in full after missing last week with a hamstring injury. Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson have totaled 705 rushing yards with six touchdowns on the season and Chicago gives up 163 rushing yards per game, which makes this an enticing matchup in almost every respect for the Patriots.
Picks:
Player Props:
Jakobi Meyers over 49.5 receiving yards
I don’t understand this line. I guess this game could be slow, which means fewer plays but Meyers has gone over this total in all four of his healthy games this year. He’s the Patriots’ number-one wide receiver against a fairly average Chicago defense. Whether it’s Zappe or Jones, I expect Meyers to top this.
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at BetMGM(-115) of DraftKings (-115)
Cole Kmet under 23.5 receiving yards
It may seem unfair to pick on Cole Kmet, but I had many shares in fantasy leagues this year, so I’m drawn to this prop. This Patriots defense has been really good and the Bears’ passing offense has been bad, which we’ve mentioned a bunch here. Kmet has just 5.7 yards average depth of target, so he’s not going to challenge New England down the field
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at BetMGM (-120)
David Montgomery over 52.5 rushing yards
We talked above about the strength of the Patriots run defense of late, but Chicago is going to run and run and run, whether it works or not. That’s what they’ve been doing all year. New England was great against the Browns’ ground attack last week, but I think we’ll see a bit of regression there and Montgomery can accumulate enough carries to top this.
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at DraftKings (-115)
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