I’m playing three NFLX sides tonight, and that being the case, I’ll publish one of them right here as the daily free play. I don’t want to jinx myself, but the comps are running pretty well right now, so let’s see if another W can get added here.
407 BEARS at 408 PATRIOTS
Take: BEARS +3
There was basically nothing positive to come out of last week’s exhibition opener for the Bears. They were pretty much bad at everything. For a team looking to put 2015 in the rear view mirror, that was a discouraging start, to put it mildly. The games might not count but for teams like the Bears, I think it’s more important for them to build a little positive momentum and instead Game One got them just the opposite result. The first-team offense was almost unbelievably incompetent, gaining 13 yards on 10 plays. Simply stated, they have to show more here. I think the Bears should have an opportunity to do better in this game. They were at least what was described as “assertive” in the joint sessions this week.
There are a couple of possible negatives on the New England side, particularly at the QB spot. Garappolo did not have a good week of practice, and Brissett didn’t get many reps. The Patriots running game was also described as sluggish. There’s never any valuable info from Belichick, and he’s been typical Belichick at this camp. But it at least appears as though the Patriots are more focused from a gameplay standpoint on next week’s game at Carolina.
I’m not high on trends, but there are some pretty good pre-season angles that it the Bears this week, mostly having to do with teams that played very poorly at home the prior week, as was the case here. It could be that this Chicago team is so terrible that even in what really does look like a good pre-season spot, they can screw it up. But pre-season handicapping theory points their way, and the info gathered from those covering these two teams would seem to support that side as well. I’ll take the Bears and the points tonight.
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