Ahead of Thursday Night Football in Chicago,ย Iโm set to provide a Bears vs. Panthers prediction.ย
Both teams enter this game off a loss. The Panthers received a drubbing from the Colts at home, while the Bears hung tough in New Orleans before losing outright.ย
That leaves both teams with two or fewer wins on the season as they battle for prime drafting position.ย
Hereโs a look at the NFL betting lines for Thursdayโs game, as well as my bets for the contest.ย
Bears vs. Panthers Betting Odds
- Chicago Bears Moneyline: -200
- Carolina Panthers Moneyline: +165
- Game Spread: Chicago Bears -4 (-110)ย
- Game Total: 39 Points
Bears vs. Panthers Predictions
Panthers-Bears Total Under 39 Points (-110)ย
You can almost picture Al Michaels losing his mind about the lack of offense on Thursday night.ย
I personally bet this at 40.5, but itโs still bettable at the current number in my estimation.ย
Thatโs because both teams are completely inept on offense. The Panthers struggled at home against the Colts and now sit 30th in offensive DVOA.ย
But their defense looked okay. Carolina surrendered less than 200 yards of offense to the Colts and faces a Bears team 27th in offensive DVOA, per ftnfantasy.com.ย
With those porous offenses, both teamsโ poor defensive standing โ Chicago and Carolina are 29th and 30th, respectively, in defensive DVOA โ should be mitigated.ย
Lastly, dating back to the 2018-19 regular season, primetime unders are 59.5% to the under, including 21-7 this season.ย
Chuba Hubbard Under 45.5 Rushing Yards (-120)
Hubbard has cleared this number in two of his last three, rendering this a great sell-high spot.ย
The Bears defense is quite interesting in that theyโre terrible against the pass yet are outstanding against the run.ย
Per ftnfantasy.com, Chicago ranks 30th in pass defense DVOA compared to seventh in rush defense DVOA.ย
The Bears also lead the league in rushing yards per attempt and just bolstered their unit by acquiring Montez Sweat.ย
For Hubbard, this represents the first top-half rush defensive DVOA side heโll face since Week 5 (DET). In that game, he rushed for only 35 yards.ย
As a result, take the under on Hubbardโs yards on Thursday night.ย
Eddie Pineiro Over 5.5 Kicking Points (-130)ย
Bryce Young proved uncharacteristically bad in the turnover department against the Colts, but the Bears defense โ as a whole โ is a downgrade.ย
That said, I donโt trust a team 17th in red zone efficiency to consistently find the endzone.ย
Enter Pineiro, who has cleared this number in two straight, four of his last five and six of eight this season.ย
On the flip side, Chicago has allowed all nine opposing kickers to clear this number.ย
Given Thursdayโs game features a very low total, that tells me field goals will rule the day.ย
Back Pineiro to clear this number as a result.ย
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