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Edgar Chaput
Bills vs. Bears Point Spread: NFL Week 16 Odds, Prediction
Standing in their way are the Chicago Bears and the explosive Justin Fields.
Winners of five straight, Buffalo is marching into the playoffs after securing a spot with an electrifying win over the Dolphins in Week 15. As for the Bears, 2022 is a lost season, but pride is on the line and a win over the mighty Bills would be a nice feather in their cap.
Sean McDermott’s Bills are heavy -10 favourites on the NFL odds. The over-under is 45.5.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Matchups between Buffalo and Chicago are rather infrequent, but recent history offers some interesting facts. Number one, Chicago has emerged victorious in three of the past four meetings. Number two, the visitors have claimed the last three contests. 2006 was the last time a home side earned the spoils when the Bears mauled the Bills 40-7 at Soldier Field.
Buffalo is a case of a team performing well where it counts for its own success, wins and losses, but does betters no favours. At 11-3, there is no doubt that the Bills are among the best outfits in the NFL. On the flip side, they’ve only mustered a 6-8 record against the spread. Illustrating the point: they’ve not covered three of the past four spreads despite outright winning all those contests.
At 3-10, Matt Eberflus’ side is playing for pride. But at 5-8-1, even their performances ATS leave a lot to be desired. Things have been so rough that they’ve struggled to cover very generous spreads as underdogs, going 3-3 in games for which the spread was +7.5 or greater.
Buffalo Bills
It was a fairy tale ending on Saturday night at home against the divisional rival Miami Dolphins. The stadium was bouncing, the fans were rocking, the Dolphins showed poise and daring under challenging conditions and, as has often been the case this year, Buffalo found a way.
Fans were disappointed when forecasts calling for snow didn’t materialize at kick-off. Therein lied Miami’s chance to take the game away. The Bills carried a 21-10 lead into halftime courtesy of QB Josh Allen’s brilliance in the dying seconds. The TD toss only went for 4 yards, but it was the pocket presence, hustle, and physical prowess Allen demonstrated when he ran to his right and shot a pass into the end zone for James Cook that took breaths away. Miami took over the third quarter, eventually leading 29-21. When the snow finally arrived, the Bills rediscovered their mojo, levelling the terms and subsequently setting up Tyler Bass for a game-winning field goal for a 32-29 win.
Chicago Bears
Losing to the Eagles as the Bears did in Week 15 is nothing to be ashamed of. Almost everybody has, some more emphatically than others. The 25-20 final score indicates the decent fight Chicago put up against their NFC-leading opponents.
To the defence’s credit, it held Philly’s vaunted in check for large stretches. By half-time, the clubs were involved in a gritty 10-6 slugfest, the sort of contest Bears teams of yesteryear would have relished. Two picks of Jalen Hurts kept the game as close as it was. Only these aren’t the ’85 Bears, and offensively the team operates like a broken unit. 248 total net yards will not cut it, even less so Justin Fields’ 152 passing yards. 4.3 yards per offensive play typified an offence that couldn’t get out of neutral.
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CHI