Washington Covers Vs. Bears On TNF Despite Commies' Circus

It's all bad for the Washington Commanders (1-4) as they head to the Windy City for a Week 6 Thursday Night Football meeting with the Chicago Bears (2-3) at Soldier Field.

Washington head coach Ron Rivera threw Commanders QB Carson Wentz under the bus when asked the difference between Washington and the rest of the NFC East teams, each of which has a winning record.

Also, reports are swirling that Washington owner Dan Snyder hired private investigators to dig up dirt on other NFL owners and executives.

The bottom line is Washington football is in the dumps and the Commanders have the worst owner in the league. But, that ain't news and, I'd argue, actually gives betting value to Washington in this spot.

Betting Details (DraftKings)

BET: Washington's ML (-110), down to -135

Washington QB Carson Wentz (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

From an optics standpoint, the Commanders are the worst team in the NFL. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the action at DraftKings Sportsbook is on this terrible Chicago team (according to VSIN).

However, from an efficiency standpoint, the Bears are the worst team in the league. Chicago has the worst success rate differential in the NFL at -10.7%.

The weather could be a factor on TNF because the forecast is predicting wind speeds touching 20 mph with a 50/50 chance of rain.

These wind speeds almost guarantee the Bears will do nothing in the passing game. Chicago is averaging only 116 passing yards per game, which is dead-last in the NFL.

More importantly, the Bears have the highest rushing rate in the league and one of Washington's few strengths is defending the run. The Commanders' defense ranks fifth in rushing expected points added per play and fourth in rushing success rate.

Also, Chicago has a rookie head coach making his TNF debut. I don't have the exact ATS or overall records in front of me but rookie head coaches don't fare well in their TNF debuts.

Furthermore, there's talk that Rivera is losing the locker room, especially after his Week 5 postgame Wentz commentary. Rivera is known to be a player-friendly coach and he was just stating the obvious. Sure, Wentz could be down in the dumps but I don't think Washington's defense no-shows.

Finally, Wentz actually performs well on TNF. His teams are 6-0 all-time on TNF and Wentz has a 107.4 QB Rating with a 15/2 TD/INT ratio in those spots. And as much as we like to give Wentz shit, Fields would love to have the same numbers as Wentz in his worst season.

Head to DraftKings Sportsbook and BET the WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (-110), down to -130.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 13 at 9:30 a.m. ET