The Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears square off on Thursday Night Football. The Bears are favored by 3 and the total is 39. The money line is Panthers +150 and Bears -178. Chicago is the home team.
The Records: Bears are 2-7 for the season and 3-5-1against the spread. Panthers are 1-7 for the season and 1-6-1 ATS.
Coaching Match Up: Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus and Panthers Head Coach Frank Reich. Eberflus is in his second consecutive losing season. The Bears will wonder if he is the right leader unless he turns things around with a winning streak. Reich has a better track record as a head coach and is in his first year with the Panthers. Reich gets the edge over Eberflus.
Quarterback: Panthers Bryce Young and Bears Tyson Bagent. Young is not adapting to the NFL as anticipated. The team is ranked near the bottom in scoring and Young has only 1 multiple touchdown passing game this season. Bagent is thrust into the starting role because of the injury to Justin Fields. In 4 games, Bagent has 3 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Bagent has a quarterback rating of 70.9 while Young’s rating is 77.1. Young get the edge.
Player Props- Panthers RB Miles Sanders rushing total over 22.5. Sanders has exceeded the projected total 3 times in his last 5 games. The price is -145. Take him over.
The consensus: Bears have 65% of the action and the total is 55% going under.
The Selection: The Bears have shown some improvement in moving the ball offensively under Bagent. Young has not shown enough in his sample size and is consistently under pressure. Expect tonight to be the same with the Bears winning a low scoring game. The under and the Bears money line are the plays for me.
On Monday, I will preview the Monday Night Football featuring the Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills. My record on MNF is 11 – 6 with 1 push this season.
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