TNF: Bears @ Seahawks
Best Pick: Bears +4, Geno Smith over 0.5 Interceptions (-125)
Bears +4 is a bet that makes you hold your nose as soon as you hit submit. There’s really nothing that points towards taking Chicago in this situation outside of them being home dogs, and them opening as 5 point dogs. Sounds like some sharps are on Chicago tonight, and I typically will lean against the public.
Geno Smith & the Seattle Seahawks look to break a 2 game losing streak tonight at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Seahawks enter tonight’s game on a 2 game losing streak to NFC North opponents. Seattle’s rushing game this season has been lacking to say the least. They currently have the 3rd fewest rushing yards per game in the NFL. They will look to feast through the air tonight. Seattle’s 64% passing plays ranks 5th in the NFL, coupling with a 69.25% completion percentage. They’re 4th in the NFL in passing ypg and 6th in passes per game. With Kenneth Walker out, we’re going to get a heavy dose of passing tonight. The Bear’s strength lies in their passing defense where they’re in the top 10 in the NFL in opponent passing play %, completion %, passes/game, and most importantly they’re 10th in the NFL in takeaways per game at 1.4 per game. This matchup on paper looks dull, but dive into the numbers, into the strengths and weaknesses, and stylistically, this matchup is pretty good.
Seattle is a game behind LAR in the NFC West with their week 17 matchup being against the Rams. We’ll see tonight if they’re looking ahead, or if they’re going to attack what’s in front of them. On the other side of the ball, Chicago is dead and has been dead for a while now. The Bears are looking to play spoiler here while also breaking the second longest losing streak by a rookie QB (9 game losing streak), only Troy Aikman had more consecutive losses when he went 0-11 his rookie year with the Dallas Cowboys.
The name of tonight’s game will be turnover margin. If Seattle doesn’t turn the ball over, they should roll over Chicago. If they give Chicago a couple free possessions, the Seahawks defense will have a lot on their plate, but nothing they can’t handle. The Seahawks win tonight to make next week much more interesting, but the Bears cover the 4 point spread.
