Bears bye week preview: Look ahead lines, standings and more

It’s mid-December and the Bears, as well as five other teams, finally, get their bye week.

There’s a discussion to be had at some point about that and player safety and all, but let’s set all of that aside for a minute.

For die-hard football fans and their families, the bye week is a nice break and a time to step away and enjoy a Sunday afternoon not sitting in front of the TV getting angry at referees.

So maybe do something on the honey-do list or hang up the holiday lights or just enjoy non-Bears football.

Since I don’t have a game to preview, I thought I’d take a look at some of the bigger-picture things around the Bears.

Bears remaining schedule

Dec. 18 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Dec. 24 vs. Buffalo Bills

Jan. 1 at Detroit Lions

Jan. 8 vs. Minnesota Vikings

Look-ahead line

DraftKings Sportsbook has the Bears as 7.5-point underdogs to the Eagles, with the total set at 48 points.

The Eagles play at the New York Giants this week. It’s the first of three straight road games for Philadelphia.

The Bears and their players don’t have very many futures odds, since, you know, they’re bad. But Justin Fields is 800-1 (+8000) to win Offensive Player of the Year. Tyreek Hill is (9/5).

Draft position

For fans that are pulling for the Bears to tank and secure the best-possible draft position, there may be some things to root for this weekend.

ESPN dropped its projections for the 2023 NFL Draft order earlier this week and they are projecting the Bears to have the third overall pick.

Their Football Power Index has the Rams with the best chance to land that second pick, which belongs to the Detroit Lions from the Matthew Stafford trade. The Rams play the Raiders on Thursday. Root for the Rams to pull off an unlikely upset, should you want the Bears to stay at No. 2.

Other teams to cheer for are Denver (vs. Kansas City) and Carolina (at Seattle).

ESPN’s projections have the Bears with an over 85 percent chance to remain in the top five of draft positions.

The Lions and Vikings are playing, too. The Lions’ own pick is way down at 15 currently. The Vikings can clinch the NFC North with a win.

Standings

The Bears are currently in last place in the NFC North.

Minnesota Vikings 10-2

Detroit Lions 5-7

Green Bay Packers 5-8

Chicago Bears 3-10

Enjoy the bye week everyone!