Same team initials, same team colors, same geographic area of the country. Cincinnati makes the short trip west to Chicago as the Bengals play the Bears. It’s time to continue our NFL odds series and make a Bengals-Bears prediction and pick.
Cincinnati emerged victorious in Week 1 with a walk-off victory as time expired in overtime. Meanwhile, the Bears looked lost in a blowout game in LA that saw the Rams win by 20 points.
Here’s how the bookmakers have set the lines for Sunday’s matchup.
NFL Odds: Bengals-Bears Odds
Cincinnati Bengals (+120)
Chicago Bears (-140)
Over 45 points (-110)
Under 45 points (-110)
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why The Bengals Could Win
Cincinnati is 1-0 thanks to a clutch kick at the end of overtime to win the game. Joe Burrow, playing in his first regular season game since injuring his knee in 2020, looked fantastic, throwing for 261 yards and two touchdowns. Joining the Bengals offense is Ja’Marr Chase, who added a score as well off a Burrow pass.
The LSU duo will be one of the most exciting connections to watch this season, and against a Bears defense that got lit up Matthew Stafford, Chase can easily walk in for another touchdown. Cincinnati’s ground game was ultra-effective too, with Joe Mixon rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown.
Coming off the excitement of their win over the Vikings, this team has a ton of momentum and it should be no surprise if Burrow has another huge game. In due time, Burrow will be one of the league’s best quarterbacks. I think in this game against Chicago, he throws for over 300 yards and 3 scores.
Why The Bears Could Win
The Bears could win this game if a change is made at quarterback. I’m not high on Andy Dalton this season, and that gut feeling was proven correct in Week 1 when Dalton threw for 206 yards and an interception – nothing special, and especially mediocre the Bears put up just 14 total points as a team. But Justin Fields, the rookie quarterback who is beginning this season as the backup, did get two pass attempts in the loss, completing both passes.
I think Fields has the potential to be a true star in this league, but he’ll need time to develop. I think if Dalton struggles early, Fields gets put into the game and will show that the hype around him is real. Fields throwing for a couple touchdowns and leading the Bears to a win here would cause the Bears coaching staff to think real hard about who will start in Week 3 under center.
Obviously this is all hypothetical, since Dalton is still the starter now. So based on what we have now, the Bears can still win this game with Dalton with a supreme effort from the defense. After the Rams offense ran all over Chicago’s defense, the secondary can’t get much worse in Week 2. Expecting an improved defense and an improved Dalton is definitely realistic – the Bengals defense did allow Kirk Cousins to throw for 351 yards last week.
Final Bengals-Bears Prediction & Pick
Continuing his season-long case for Most Improved / Comeback Player of the Year, Joe Burrow throws for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, including another one to Chase, as the Bengals go into Chicago and put up a plethora of points on the Bears. Cincinnati wins 35-20 as they improve to 2-0. For the Bears, this loss leads to speculation within the organization that Dalton might be benched in the following game in favor of Fields.
FINAL PICK: Bengals MONEYLINE (+120)
Follow Us
Subscribe