Team Total Look For Bears Vs. Chargers

Bears vs. Chargers, 8:20 ET

This couldn't possibly have been what the NFL schedule makers were expecting when the season schedule was created, was it? Sure, I get it, every team needs to be in primetime, and the expectations for improvement of certain squads gets taken into consideration. All of these things lead to how they build the schedule. But, this is kind of an ugly game - at least on paper - as the Bears take on the Chargers. Lucky for us, ugly game, pretty game, it doesn't matter. We get an opportunity to bet on it.

I live in Chicago and one of my favorite annual traditions is listening to the optimism of my fellow citizens. Each year, like clockwork, the belief is that the Bears are going to win and be a great franchise once again. Every Sunday, the grocery stores are empty, Bears flags are flying, and blue and orange are donned by neighbors. The Bears haven't won a Super Bowl in almost 40 years and I think have only been to one in that time frame. This year was supposed to be the season that Justin Fields took a huge step forward and became the man to lead this franchise back to respectability. We are entering Week 8 and they are 2-5, with one of the wins coming without Fields on the field. Nothing about this Bears team gives me confidence that they will be able to hang with the Chargers. I think the Chargers defense is bad and the Raiders defense was bad last week, but that was a battle between two backups. Justin Herbert will pick apart the Bears defense and I'm not confident that Tyson Bagent can replicate last week's performance. He was respectable against the Raiders, throwing for 162 yards and a touchdown while completing 72.4% of his passes. The good news for him is that the Chargers might have the worst home-field advantage in all of football. So, this might not be too tough of an environment for his first road action.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 15: Tyson Bagent #17 of the Chicago Bears throws a pass against the Minnesota Vikings during the third quarter at Soldier Field on October 15, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Chargers aren't exactly world-beaters. In fact, the thing they beat the most often is themselves. The play-calling and decision-making of the team leave you scratching your head rather often. I was hopeful that after the embarrassment from last season's playoff loss, they would be more consistent or focused, but that doesn't really seem to be the case yet. They also only have two wins, but I will say the losses at least seem to be competitive games from them. Their defense struggles to stop most teams, but against a weak Bears offense, they should look like a premier defense. Where this game really has an edge is the Chargers offense. Justin Herbert is going to be the best player on the field and should consistently be able to hit Keenan Allen. The running game for the Chargers also is fairly dynamic and should be able to rack up yards against a decent, but not great Chicago defensive line. The Bears struggle to get sacks and if you give Herbert time he will do good things. On the other side, I have to imagine that Khalil Mack will be amped up a bit for this game and try to play harder after he was traded away from Chicago.

There is no question in my mind that the Chargers will win this game. Will they be able to cover the large number of 8.5? I'm not 100% sold on that. I think they should be able to. But I like the Chargers to go over their 27.5 team total in this game. I know primetime games have been going under (we got a win on one Thursday). For this game though, I don't trust the Chargers defense even against the Bears. However, I love what I think the offense will do against them.

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