The Chicago Bears were a completed hail mary away from possibly stealing a win from the New England Patriots last week. Now the Bears welcome the New York Jets to Soldier Field in a must-win game to avoid dropping further behind the pack in the NFC North division.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The Jets opened up around touchdown underdogs to the Bears, but the line is edging closer to double digits as we head into the weekend. Sports Interaction lists Chicago as 9-point home favourites with the Over/Under line set at 45.

This is quite a contrast to what Windy City NFL fans are accustomed to in recent years. Before the start of this season, the Bears were favoured in just eight of their previous 48 regular season games, and they never got a sniff of being double digit chalk.

Chicago is still 11-4-1 against the spread in its last 16 home games while the Jets are 3-8-1 ATS in their last 12 away dates.

New York is coming off a 37-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings as a 3.5-point home underdog. The Jets have given up 31 or more points in three of their last four contests. The Over is 4-0 in the Jets’ last four games and 3-0 in the Bears’ last three.

Chicago carries a matching 3-3 record straight up and against the spread into the weekend while the Jets are 3-4 SU and ATS.

New York Jets

Gang Green was supposed to be New York’s weak football team this season but the Giants’ have taken that title. This season is really all about the development of rookie quarterback Sam Darnold whom the Jets took with the third overall pick.

Darnold is coming off his worst start in his young career. The Purple People Eaters chewed and spit out the first-year player and when the game was done Darnold’s stat line looked worse than Nicolas Cage’s IMDB page. The former USC Trojan completed just 17 of his 40 pass attempts for 206 yards and he was picked off three times.

His offensive line will need to hold up against Chicago’s pass rush for Darnold to have a chance to rebound in Week 8.

Chicago Bears

Is Khalil Mack healthy? The menacing linebacker contributed with just one tackle against the Patriots and he hasn’t gotten to an opposing quarterback. That’s quite a difference from the terror he caused in his first few games as a member of the Bears when he was seemingly sacking and forcing fumbles at will.

Mack didn’t practice on Wednesday because of a sore ankle and he’s questionable to play against the Jets on Sunday.

Jets vs. Bears Prediction