Week 9 of the NFL season will provide some electric games, and this should be one of them. The Chicago Bears take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. It's time to continue our NFL odds series with a Bears-Steelers Week 9 prediction and pick.
The good news is that Justin Fields is starting to establish himself with good play over the past few weeks. The bad news is that the Bears are on a three-game losing streak. This will be Fields first primetime game of his career and so this will be a great time for a breakout game. Fields has three touchdowns and seven interceptions on the year and will need to quickly turn that around if the Bears want to be successful. The defense is allowing 24.4 points per game which is also hurting the team. The Bears played three good teams in each of the last three games and will play another tough opponent in Week 9.
For our conversation about Bears-Steelers on the Establish the Pass podcast, click below:
The Steelers are opposite the Bears and are on a three-game winning streak. After starting 1-3, they are now 4-3 and are right back into the mix in the tough AFC North division. If Roethlisberger can keep his streak up of not throwing an interception, then this team will continue to win games. Najee Harris is playing like the top offensive rookie not named Jamar Chase so far this year. All three phases of the Steelers are dominant when they want to be. If they keep the turnover margin in their favor then they could find themselves at the top of the division sooner rather than later.
Here is how the bookmakers set the Bears-Steelers odds for Monday night.
NFL Odds: Bears-Steelers Odds
Chicago Bears: +6.5 (-110)
Pittsburgh Steelers: -6.5 (-110)
Over: 38.5 (-110)
Under: 38.5 (-110)
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Why the Bears Could Cover The Spread
This won't be an easy one for the Bears to cover, but here is how they can do it. Both sides of the ball are going to have to play lights out. It's possible that primetime football could boost Fields' play and thus see a whole new Bears team. The Steelers are one of the better Monday Night Football teams and usually win these games. So Fields and the Bears' offense will need to score a ton of points to keep them in it. We've recently seen Fields escape the pocket and run for first downs. He finished last week's loss to the San Francisco 49ers with over 100 yards rushing and a touchdown. If he can repeat that and not turn the ball over then the Bears will be in a great position to win.
The Bears are 3-5 against the spread this year. Six points is very doable if they can keep themselves in the game. They need to focus on controlling the time of possession and if they do that they will see success.
Why The Steelers Could Cover The Spread
The Steelers are 3-4 against the spread this year. Pittsburgh can cover this spread if Roethlisberger continues his run without an interception. The team is finally starting to connect at this point in the season but they do have a tough schedule ahead. The offense doesn't have any problems scoring points. It's the defense that was hurting them early in the season, but that is starting to change. The offense is without JuJu Smith-Schuster but that shouldn't hurt them offensively with Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson playing well.
This is a favorable matchup for the Steelers. The Bears aren't at their best right now but the Steelers can't get caught playing cute. They will still need to execute during every possession because we have seen this Bears' defense create turnovers. If you make the game easier for Fields then that is going to put the Steelers into a deep hole. Limit the turnovers and win the field position and that will create a good recipe for success.
Final Bears-Steelers Prediction & Pick
I expect the Steelers to come out on top and win by multiple scores. Both teams are playing opposite styles of football right now and I'm going to stick with the team that is playing well. Neither team is ahead against the spread this year but Pittsburgh is more than capable of winning by at least a touchdown. Vegas thinks this will be a low-scoring game with the over/under at 40. I disagree and think both teams will score multiple touchdowns, elevating the score. This will be one of the more entertaining games of Week 9.
FINAL BEARS-STEELERS PREDICTION & PICK: Steelers -6.5 (-110) & Over: 38.5 (-110)
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