This could easily have some playoff seeding ramifications down the line. The Bears probably aren’t winning the NFC North with Green Bay a better team, and the Rams probably aren’t winning the NFC West with Seattle a better team. However, with the addition of the third Wild-Card spot this season, both Chicago and L.A. have good shots at playoff football.

Monday Night Football Point Spread and Betting Analysis

It’s the third season in a row that two of the three top media markets in the United States will face off. Both were very defensive-oriented games. In 2018 when both were eventual playoff teams, the Bears beat the visiting Rams 15-6. Of course, L.A. would reach the Super Bowl that season and lose to the Patriots.

Last year in Week 11, the Rams were the home team and prevailed 17-7. Neither team reached 300 yards of offence. Todd Gurley, now with Atlanta, rushed for 97 yards and a TD for L.A. Jared Goff was not great, throwing for just 173 yards and a pick. Chicago did nothing on the ground and Mitchell Trubisky (now the backup) did little in the air, throwing for 190 yards with a TD and a pick.

Chicago has covered the spread in seven of the past 10 in the series. Needless to say, the total went under in the previous two. This will be the Bears’ first-ever game at the new SoFi Stadium in L.A.

Chicago Bears

The Bears are simply not a very good football team but 5-1 is 5-1 (first time since 2012). Entering this season, there were 102 teams that started 5-1 since the NFL went to 12 playoff teams in 1990, and 85 went on to make the playoffs (83.3 per cent). Chicago was held to 261 yards on Sunday, but the defence was terrific in a 23-16 win at Carolina.

The Bears sacked Teddy Bridgewater four times, picked him off twice and recovered a Mike Davis fumble. The defence is going to have to continue to play at a high level for this team to beat even decent clubs because Chicago can’t run the ball whatsoever and QB Nick Foles is average at best. He did throw for a TD to rookie second-round tight end Cole Kmet and rush for one Sunday. The Bears appeared to get out of the game healthy.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams fell to 4-2 with Sunday night’s 24-16 loss at struggling and injury-ravaged San Francisco. Jared Goff missed open receivers all night and finished 19 of 38 for 198 yards two TDs and a pick. You aren’t going to win often in the modern-day NFL when attempting 5.2 yards per pass. The Rams had the ball for just 22:05. Rather surprisingly, second-round rookie RB Cam Akers didn’t have a single touch.

Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald was neutralized, hitting 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo only once. The Rams had eight sacks last week in a win over Washington and none on Sunday. All four of L.A.’s wins are vs. the NFC East.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Bears vs. Rams?