After a couple of less-than-ideal Thursday Night Football matchups over the last two weeks—although, Broncos vs. Jets was a little more entertaining than expected—we get a matchup of two 3-1 teams this week when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to Chicago to take on the Bears. Tampa Bay comes in as the walking wounded, while Chicago hopes quarterback Nick Foles’ second start of 2020 is much, much better than his first.
Which first-place team will improve to 4-1? Will Tom Brady get a small amount of revenge on Foles? Let’s get into the game. All odds are courtesy of our friends over at BetOnline.
Spread: TB: -3.5 (-105) | CHI: +3.5 (-115)
Moneyline: TB: (-190) | CHI: (+165)
Total: 44 – Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)
As of this writing, we don’t know exactly how many Buccaneers will be out for this game. On offense, Chris Godwin, Justin Watson and O.J. Howard are not playing for sure, but Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette, and Scotty Miller's statuses are up in the air. Jason Pierre-Paul on defense may not play, either. There’s no shame in waiting to see if the line drops a bit if you want to bet on Tampa Bay. It has dropped from -5.5 to -3.5 since Monday night and could fall another half-point (or maybe even a full point if Evans is ruled out) depending on further injury reports.
The Bears have some mild injury concerns, but it appears the only major players in danger of missing this game are Deon Bush, Sherrick McManis, and rookie wide receiver Darnell Mooney. However, the Bears offense looked so terrible last week that no amount of Buccaneers injuries could drop them to that level. Until I see more from this Foles-led offense, I can’t bet on them.
The Buccaneers have the best run defense in football, in my opinion, and will completely take David Montgomery out of this game—if Matt Nagy doesn’t do it first with questionable play-calling. A one-dimensional Bears offense relying on Foles to match Brady is a recipe for failure, even at home on a short week. I’ll take what’s left of the Buccaneers’ offense to best the Bears in a low scoring game.
Pick ATS: Buccaneers -3.5
NFL picks ATS 2020: 41-20-2 (67%)
NFL picks ATS 2019: 145-119-3 (55%)
NFL picks ATS 2018: 140-115-12 (55%)
To bet on these games and more, head over to BetOnline.
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