Best Bets: Full Sunday Slate (Open Thread)

When the Bears game ends, bring the NFL discussion for the late afternoon and Sunday Night Football games over here.

An interesting Week 1 leaves us with the age old question in betting September football - how do we avoid overreacting while not ignoring obvious worrying signs? No game embodies that more than our beloved Chicago Bears traveling down to swampy Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs won their opener on the road at Minnesota, getting enough out of new quarterback Baker Mayfield for a close victory, 20-17. The Bears, on the other hand, looked like an absolute mess, dropping their opener at home to the Packers. They couldn’t do anything well as their offense looked disjointed and bland while the defense sat in soft zones while Jordan Love picked them apart.

If the Bears think that things will be easier against the Bucs defense, they might be in for a rude awakening. However, I do think we’re going to see a better performance from Justin Fields (and Luke Getsy) as they look to feature DJ Moore and get their run game more established. That should lead to more points for the Bears, helping hit the modest over of 41.

As far as game prediction, I’m going to roll with the Bears one more time. Before the year, the Bears were favored in this game. This line moved a bunch after the Week 1 performances. I know we’re all (deservedly) upset at the Week 1 effort, believe me. And while I’ve never thought of Week 2 as a must win, this one sure does feel like it. Call me crazy, but I’ll roll with our guys this week.

Picks: Bears +2.5, Over 41

(Numbers courtesy of our partners at DraftKings Sportsbooks)

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