Sunday Night Football Picks: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Betting Odds, Picks, and Predictions

Sunday Night Football Picks: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Betting Odds, Picks, and Predictions

This article is part of our NFL Picks series.

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Betting Odds, Picks, and Predictions for Sunday Night Football Week 2

The Bears and Packers get together for the 205th time in their storied rivalry. It's been a highly one-sided series in favor of Green Bay for some time now, however, as the Pack has prevailed in 15 of the last 17 meetings overall. Interestingly, the Packers are the team coming into this game looking for their first win, as they were walloped by the Vikings, 23-7, on the road in their opener. Conversely, the Bears prevailed by a 19-10 score against a George Kittle-less 49ers in a rain-soaked Soldier Field.

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Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers for Sunday Night Football Week 2

*Best lines at time of writing listed

Moneyline: Bears +400 (PointsBet Sportsbook)/ Packers -450 (DraftKings Sportsbook)

Point spread: Bears +10 (PointsBet Sportsbook)/ Packers -10 (DraftKings Sportsbook)

Totals: Over 41.5 points (DraftKings Sportsbook)/ Under 42 points (PointsBet Sportsbook)

The Packers are unsurprisingly heavy favorites in this spot despite the ineffectiveness of their short-handed, revamped receiving corps in Week 1. In addition to the aforementioned lopsided nature of this series for a substantial period, the Pack is also an NFC-best 150-79-2 straight up since Aaron Rodgers became a full-time starter in 2009, including an NFC-best 87-24-2 at Lambeau Field. When it comes to the spread, the Pack is an NFL-best 132-95-4 in that span, including 69-41-3 at home, also tops in the league over that period.

Therefore, it's not entirely surprising the Packers' projected advantage for this game has actually increased since the early line was released in the offseason. That number opened at -9.5 for the hosts, and post-Week 1, it's toggled consistently between 9.5 and 10 points.

The total has had a different trajectory, taking a significant dive since it initially came out at 45 points. It's since been on a slide that began shortly after Week 1, going down to all the way to its current figure of 41.5 over the course of the week due to concerns about the Packers' passing game and the ongoing uncertainty regarding Allen Lazard's (ankle) availability.

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Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Betting Picks This Week

A year ago, the Packers, including Rodgers, got off to one of the ugliest starts to a season in recent memory when they were throttled by the Saints, 38-3, a game in which the future Hall of Fame quarterback threw for only 133 yards and tossed a pair of picks.

While it wasn't quite as bad on the stat sheet for Green Bay in this year's Week 1, the end result was still an ugly 23-7 defeat at the hands of the Vikings in which Rodgers and his new, short-handed receiving corps failed to show much chemistry. The absence of Lazard clearly had an influence on that, however, and on the brighter side, the Aaron Jones-A.J. Dillon duo looked impressive while combining for 94 yards and a touchdown (Dillon) on 15 carries.

That success could play a bigger part in the outcome in this matchup, as the Bears showed some vulnerability to the run yet again in Week 1 against Elijah Mitchell before he went down with a knee injury. The second-year back had 41 yards on six rushes before exiting, and the Jones/Dillon combo has even more upside than San Francisco's current crop of backs. With respect to the air attack, Rodgers and the likes of newcomers Sammy Watkins, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs should be more in sync after reviewing the film and another week of practice. If Lazard, who's listed as questionable, is able to suit up, that will naturally be a pretty sizable bonus.

It's difficult to evaluate the Bears' Week 1 offensive performance considering the inclement weather conditions they operated in. Justin Fields looked serviceable but still finished with a sub-50-percent completion rate despite a pair of TD tosses. The ground game put together an interesting body of work – Khalil Herbert, and not David Montgomery, led the way for the tailbacks with a 9-45-1 line, while the latter was stymied to the tune of 26 yards on 17 rushes.

With a more stable terrain to play on this week, the Chicago offense should be on steadier footing, both figuratively and literally. However, the Packers' defense will be out for some redemption after being kept off balance all game in Week 1 by a Vikings offense under new leadership that threw some unfamiliar looks at them. The Bears are also now led by a new coaching staff, but the offensive talent disparity between Minnesota and Chicago is vast.

Ultimately, this is a game in which I think both offenses look smoother and more proficient than in their openers. However, the Packers' superior talent, Rodgers' savvy, and the home-field edge will result in a Green Bay win that has a decent amount of points scored, making the Over my preferred play.

Bears at Packers Best Bets: Over 41.5 Points (DraftKings  Sportsbook)

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Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Prediction

Packers 27, Bears 17

The Packers are still a superior team to the Bears overall, but this isn't necessarily going to be a laugher, as already outlined. If Lazard is forced to sit out, points will be harder to come by for Green Bay, but I expect enough of a bounce-back effort from Rodgers and company in front of the home crowd and some modest success from the Bears to make this a reasonably competitive affair.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juan Carlos Blanco
Winner of the FSWA 2016 Newcomer of the Year Award, Juan Carlos Blanco has been playing fantasy sports for over 20 years and covers NBA, MLB, NFL, CFL and Arena Football for Rotowire.com, including serving as the beat writer for teams in multiple sports. He has previously written for KFFL.com and remains an avid season-long and daily fantasy player in multiple sports as well.
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