Sports Betting Picks

Monday Night Football: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears

Week 2’s Monday Night Football game features a pair of teams searching for their first win of the season, as the Chicago Bears host the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears are listed as a 4.5-point favorite at home with an over/under for the game set at 43 points.

The Bears played quite well for three-quarters last week. They lost only because Aaron Rodgers picked that moment to orchestrate arguably the best comeback of his career and play perhaps the finest quarter of his career. In any event, one may worry a little bit about how the upstart Bears are able to bounce back mentally from such a crushing defeat.

Seattle, meanwhile, lost a game in Week 1 that was close in score but not all that close statistically. The Seahawks forced three turnovers in their 24-21 loss to the Broncos to help keep them in the game, but for the most part, they struggled to move the ball consistently, totaling only 13 first downs. That leaves them with much to prove heading into Week 2.

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One of Seattle’s biggest problems in Week 1 was their inability to stop the run. Denver’s running back tandem of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman both had 71 yards on 15 carries, totaling over 140 rushing yards. If you look at Chicago’s backfield tandem of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, they have a rather similar skill set to Freeman and Lindsay. The Bears have that same thunder and lightning backfield that the Seahawks struggled to stop last week, which has to be a concern for Seattle.

Of course, Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is still finding his way and hasn’t proven that he can carry the team on his back. Even with some capable skill players around him, the Seahawks need to force Trubisky to beat him. But if they continue to struggle against the run, that could be tough to do. If Trubisky gets enough support from Chicago’s rushing attack, he may be able to make some plays against a secondary that gave up 8.4 yards per pass attempt last week.

Where are the Playmakers?

As for Seattle’s offense, they have some questions about who their playmakers are, especially with Doug Baldwin set to miss Monday’s game due to injury. Tyler Lockett and tight end Will Dissly both made big plays last week, but neither is the kind of player that’s accustomed to doing that week after week. Outside of running back Rashaad Penny, no Seattle receiver had more than three catches, as Russell Wilson only completed 19 of his 33 passes.

The Seahawks were only competitive last week because they hit a few big plays. That could be a little more difficult this week against the Chicago defense. Remember, outside of the 4th quarter last week, the Bears looked good on that side of the ball. The Seahawks were also victimized time and time again in Week 1 by Von Miller, and this week they’ll have to worry about Khalil Mack.

Do Bears Eat Birds?

Since we only have one week worth of football to go off of, the pick here has to be the Bears. Seattle looks to be at a disadvantage on both sides of the ball, and unless Wilson can do his best impersonation of Rodgers, Chicago will be in a good position to win and cover. Bet on the Bears -4.5 to win on Monday night.

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