BEARS IN MIND
Jets’ visit to Windy City could be a grizzly affair
THE JETS (3-4) and Bears ( 3- 3) have very similar records, but Chicago is about a year ahead in its building plan toward contention.
The Bears al ready have acquired their edge pass-rushing stud in Khalil Mack, while the Jets are still looking for their first since John Abraham. Mitchell Trubisky is in his second season at quarterback; Sam Darnold is a rookie. And the Bears supplied Trubisky with an offensive head coach in Matt Nagy, a move the Jets may or may not imitate (Todd Bowles is trying to prevent that).
The Jets limp into Soldier Field missing a gang of injured key players. With Bilal Powell lost for the season and Quincy Enunwa out, Darnold l oses good pieces of both his passing and running games. Some down-the-chart guys dropped easy passes in the loss to Minnesota last week. The replacements in the ailing secondary played surprisingly well, but in the end the Vikings still put up 37 points.
Meanwhile the Bears outgained the Patriots 453-381 but came up a yard short on a potential tying Hail Mary and fell, 38-31. Fourteen of New England’s points came on a kickoff return and blocked punt. The Bears have lost two in a row despite scoring a total of 59 points and will be an ornery bunch the Jets will be ill-equipped to confront. The pick: Bears -7.
Redskins (-1) over GIANTS: Since giving up 43 in a loss at the Saints, the Redskins have won twice, giving up just 17 points to the Panthers and Cowboys. They have the power running game to exploit the Giants’ trade of Damon “Snacks” Harrison. Not expecting the beleaguered Big Blue players to rally to the cause here on a short week during which management began the purge.
Eagles (-3) over Jaguars: Blake Bortles gets his job back from Cody Kessler. In his past three games in England, Bortles has thrown eight touchdown passes and the Jags are 3-0. He also has Carlos Hyde to replace the injured Leonard Fournette. But if reports are true that Bortles has lost the locker room, better to go with the defending champs who are due for a bangup game.
Browns (+8¹/₂) over STEELERS: Seems like a bit of an exaggerated spread with the Steelers coming off two wins and a bye, while the Browns have lost two in a row. Pittsburgh has won only one game this season that would cover this number, and Cleveland has lost only once by this many ... and the teams tied, 21-21, in Week 1.
Broncos (+10) over CHIEFS: The Broncos are not one of t he teams you’d normally associate with being on the receiving end of a double-digit s pread. The t eams played a classic Monday nighter a few weeks back. KC got out with a 27-23 win that could have gone either way. Case Keenum will have to t a ke advantage of t he Chiefs’ 32nd- ranked defense to keep the Broncos close again. LIONS (-3) over Seahawks: It was a great statement by Lions management to deal for Snacks Harrison. Matt Patricia is 3-3 in his rookie season, but his team is 5-1 ATS and rates a slight nod over a pesky, if no longer elite, Seattle team. BENGALS (-4) over Buccaneers: The Bucs certainly have the firepower to turn this into a shootout, but they have given up 300 or more points in four of six games this season. The Bengals should be focused after losing twice in a row, including 45-10 last week at KC. Ravens (- 2) over PANTHERS: Tough call, as it’s hard to know whether the real Panthers are the ones who trailed the Eagles 17-0 or the ones who ended up winning, 21-17. Leaning toward Ravens rebound after heartbreaking loss to Saints on — of all things — J ust i n Tu c k e r ’ s missed PAT.
Colts (-3) over RAIDERS: It’s a real snit show in Oakland, with anonymous players bashing Jon Gruden and Derek Carr insisting he didn’t cry (“not one tear, not one time”). They’ve scored 13 points total in the past two games and now don’t have Marshawn Lynch or Amari Cooper. Tune back in on Draft Day 2019. For now, “Andrew Luck, please!”
49ers (pick) over CARDINALS: Both teams got clobbered last week, but it was the Cardinals’ 45-10 home drubbing by the Broncos that made you wonder if Arizona can run even one play that resembles an NFL play. The Cardinals won at San Francisco Oct. 7, 28-18, but the team that showed up that day must have been abducted by aliens.
Packers (+9) over RAMS: Prior to their 39-10 dusting of the 49ers, the spreads had been catching up to the undefeated Rams, as they were on an 0-2-1 ATS run. This number strikes as a bit high, as well. And the Rams could be looking ahead a bit to next week’s battle royale at New England.
Saints (pick) over VIKINGS: This might be the biggest revenge game we’ve seen in a long time. Not only did the Vikings KO the Saints from the playoffs last year, they did it on a miracle fluke. Vikings defense got banged up versus the Jets, and now here comes Drew Brees and his 77.3 percent completions, 13 TDs and no INTs.
MONDAY
BILLS (+14) over Patriots: Buffalo has lost games this season by 22, 32 and 44 points, and New England has scored 38 points or more in each of its past four games, all victories. So you have backup if you want to take the Patriots, but we’ll take the two-TD home underdog and hope the visitors get bored or look ahead to the Rams next week. BEST BETS: Redskins, Bears, Colts. LOCK OF THE WEEK: Redskins (Locks 5-2 in 2018). LAST WEEK: 8-6 overall, 3-0 Best Bets. THURSDAY: Dolphins (L).