The Bears … favored … on the road … and we’re taking them? That’s what it’s come down to with this Bengals defense, which is not only embarrassingly soft but so porous that sponges are jealous. Oh, and Trey Hendrickson is inactive for the game. The Bears looked terrible last week against a Ravens team playing Snoop Huntley, but they have been pulling out some gutsy wins under Ben Johnson, and it’s tough to see Caleb Williams struggling against this defense with most of his weapons back and Kyle Monangai expected to break out against a Cincinnati defense that allowed 500+ yards and 39 points to Justin Fields and the Jets.

At least I hope the Bears score a touchdown today in Cincinnati but I'm already on them Under 27.5 TT. That's looking better, unfortunately as a fan, with top RB D'Andre Swift out (as is WR Luther Burden). If the Bears get to the goal line against that bad Bengals defense, it should be the rookie Kyle Monangai getting the rock.

Bears WR Luther Burden has been ruled out, along with RBs Deandre Swift and Roschon Johnson. This should give Zaccheaus a bump in target share, especially against a Bengals defense that will likely be without their best pass rusher DE Trey Hendrickson. Last week against the Ravens, Zaccheaus had 7 receptions on 7 targets for 33 yards. He's seen 5+ targets in 5/7 games this year. Zaccheaus can be utilized in the short area passing game, and should see enough volume to clear this modest receiving yards total again.

The Cincinnati Bengals are beat up offensively with quarterback Joe Flacco, and have the worst defense in yards and points per game. A defense that allowed the winless Jets to mount a double digit comeback win last week. Still, this is a game they have to have similar to Baltimore a week ago against this Bears team. Chicago without De’Andre Swift is going to put more of a focus on Caleb Williams to make plays. Take the Bengals plus the points.

Chicago has balance and has the element of the big play. Despite not having RB D'Andre Swift in this game, I still expect them to run the ball well with Kyle Monongai. I also expect them to play much better collectively than last week. While the Bengals have looked competent with Flacco at QB, he still is prone to eating sacks because of his limited mobility. Expect that to be where the defense of the Bears takes advantage.

If Joe Flacco is a no-go here, I'll like this line even more. Chicago was embarrassingly bad last week, but the Bengals are a great team to bounce back against. Look for the Bears to have an excellent offensive performance and win their fifth game in their last six tries by a TD or more.

We've got a monster total (51) in a game where neither defense should be able to prevent the big play. And we have an elite receiver who should get peppered by either Joe Flacco or Jake Browning, regardless of who starts. The Bears just gave up 63 yards on seven catches to Zay Flowers with Snoop Huntley under center and 98 yards (plus two scores) on five catches to Chris Olave with Spencer Rattler throwing passes. Just one week prior, the Bears secondary gave up three touchdown passes to the Commies without Terry McLaurin or Deebo Samuel. They can be gotten and Chase knows this is a must-win game for the Bengals. Explosion game incoming.

The Bears seem to be getting docked by oddsmakers after Sunday's loss to Baltimore, which excels coming off a bye. Fact is, they entered with four consecutive SU wins. QB Joe Flacco has resuscitated Cincy's offense but is questionable (shoulder). The fallback would be Jake Browning, who went 0-3 as a starter this season while his squad was being outscored by a combined 67 points. Even should he get right if Flacco sits, that would not solve issues on the Bengals' defense, which ranks rock-bottom in the league in yards and points allowed.

Win either way Sunday. If the Bears get north of 27, they are winning in Cincinnati. And I'm well aware of how bad that Bengals defense is. But I've watched the Bears forever. I'm not saying I can count off the top of my head how many times they have scored at least 28 points in a road game, but I'm probably not far off as it's not that many. Remember the last time: Oct. 5, 2023 at Washington. Would I go any lower on this (a couple of 26.5s on our board)? Nope. But the Cincy defense can't possibly play worse after allowing 39 points to the Jets and ex-Bear Justin Fields. Oh, I forgot Al Golden is running that unit.