The game you’ve all been waiting for is here. You’re welcome, America. Enjoy this spectacle of the 1-7 Carolina Panthers traveling to Soldier Field to take on the 2-7 Chicago Bears. It’s a game that Bears fans care a lot about because the Bears own the Panthers 2024 first round pick. A Bears win will keep that pick projected in the top two of the draft while a Panthers win would, well, it would still be projected as a high pick but Bears fans will start to sweat about the future. It’s all a bit weird.
But let’s focus on the game itself, shall we? The Panthers have not been a particularly competitive team in most of their game this year as the offense under Bryce Young has failed to find its footing. The Bears defense has struggled to force turnovers or get to the quarterback. Something has to give, right? I’m not so sure we won’t just see a lot of punting from the Panthers.
On the other side of the ball, the Bears offense should have time to throw the ball as their offensive line is starting to play well together and the Panthers enter this one down Brian Burns. This is also a DJ Moore revenge game as the trade that brought the 2024 #1 pick to Chicago also came with #2 in navy and orange. Moore has been everything the Bears were hoping for, proving that #1 WR presence in a room that desperately needed it. I would assume Moore gets his fair share of targets plus a few more to help him shine against his former club.
Overall, I’ll take the Bears to pull out the win but Thursday games can be weird and I think the Panthers will make the Bears work for it, covering the spread. I don’t believe enough in either offense to hit the over button at this point with the truncated week of practice.
Picks: Bears moneyline, Panthers +3.5, Under 40
Numbers courtesy of our partners at DraftKings Sportsbooks
Check out what the rest of our writers think and make your picks below.
Loading comments...