Week 7 in the NFL wraps up tonight with Bears vs. Patriots at Gilette Stadium. The Pats are currently 8.5-point favorites and the game’s over/under has been set at 40.5.
The Teams
The Bears will be playing in their second primetime game in as many weeks tonight after falling 12-7 to the Commanders last Thursday. The last three weeks have been a big struggle for Chicago, as the team has lost all three games and scored just three touchdowns. Justin Fields is starting to throw the ball more but still has reached 200 yards passing just once.
For the Bears to be competitive in just about any game right now, they need to rely on their run game and their defence. Both David Montgomery and Justin Fields can do damage on the ground, while Khalil Herbert offers great potential as the secondary back. If the defensive unit can keep the Patriots out of the end zone, the chances of Fields stringing a few plays together to steal the game only get larger. At the end of the day, though, this team is an 8.5-point underdog for good reason.
On the other side of the field, the home team will be welcoming Mac Jones back into the starting quarterback position after he missed three games with an ankle injury. Bailey Zappe was terrific in his two starts in Jones’ absence so there may be more pressure than usual on Mac tonight. After starting 1-3, the Patriots come into Monday with two dominating wins in a row and will be looking to roll over Chicago to keep pace in the very competitive AFC East. With Miami, New York and Buffalo all winning this week, a loss would put the Patriots right back into the basement of the division. Thankfully, they’re playing the Bears at home.
Bears vs Patriots – The Pick
If you couldn’t tell already, we’re not super high on the Bears right now. We’ll take Bill Belichick and the Patriots to cover the spread at home to close out another great week of football in the NFL.
