After finally agreeing to terms with first-round pick Roquan Smith, the Chicago Bears are whole. But is that enough to make noise in the NFC North this year? It’s been a rough preseason so far for rookie coach Matt Nagy, who has yet to generate the offensive buzz that came along with his hiring. In what is their third preseason game of the year, the Bears will take a longer look at Mitchell Trubisky and the offense when they visit the Denver Broncos in Week 2 of the preseason.
This preseason Week 2 matchup goes down Saturday, August 18, 2018, at 9:05 p.m. ET from Broncos Stadium at Mile High.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Chicago Bears +3
Denver Broncos -3
Over/Under 41
Odds Analysis
The Bears have to be experiencing a first with Saturday’s tilt being their third straight preseason road game. They kept the first two close, losing both by a combined four points while going 1-0-1 ATS. They’ll get the standard field goal for being on the road again, but they have to be fed up with the travelling.
Quarterback Rotation
A new coach, a new system and new players means the starting quarterback should get plenty of reps. That hasn’t been the case for Trubisky, who didn’t take the field in the Hall of Fame game and played two non-descript series last week against the Bengals. The unit still has kinks it needs to work out and expect Trubisky to get more than the 10 snaps he had last week.
The offense did nothing with Trubisky at the helm. The unit managed just four net yards, the one first down came by penalty and the Bears punted twice. Chase Daniel took over after Trubisky and completed 8 of 12 for 76 yards. Tyler Bray had the best night for the Bears and made a push for the backup role by directing a 92-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that put the Bears on top. Bray finished 18 of 27 for 219 yards, and his familiarity with Nagy’s offense paid off.
The much anticipated debut of Case Keenum was short and unspectacular. But the Denver faithful will get a chance to see more of their QB on Saturday. Keenum played two series against his former mates, both resulting in a three-and-out, and he completed just 1 of 4 attempts in a loss to the Vikings.
The big news from Broncos camp is a change on the depth chart. Chad Kelly moved ahead of Paxton Lynch with a strong camp showing and an impressive outing against Minnesota. Kelly finished the game 14 of 21 with 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Lynch, who failed to unseat Trevor Siemian the past two seasons, has now fallen further off the pace, though he will have an opportunity to make up ground against the Bears.
Players to Watch
After both teams stumbled on offense last season, they made radical changes to their personnel and schemes. So far we have yet to see any payoff. It’s a small sample size – a very small sample size – but the teams are looking for more from their first-team offenses on Saturday.
Both starting quarterbacks played two series with the first-team last week and neither registered a first down, though the Bears got one with the help of a penalty. The two starting offensive units combined for 11 net yards in the four series with all of them ending with a punt. Nagy and Vance Joseph blurted out one word numerous times when asked about their teams performance: “disappointing.” Expect more from both clubs on Saturday with the starters going a little longer and time running shorter.
Free ATS Pick
The clubs will be very familiar with each other by the time Saturday rolls around as they spent a few days during the week sparring, I mean practicing against each other. Both teams are expected to be stout defensively, and the Bears may have moved up a notch now that Smith is under contract.
But the first-team offenses were horrid last week and both coaches were rightfully ticked off about it. We will see more of the starters this week and I expect both clubs to be crisper in their execution. And the way the backups played last week, the over looks like a strong play. Joseph and the Broncos had been perfect during the preseason until last week, and they get a Bears club that is playing its third straight on the road, and that’s a big edge even in the tune-up games.
NFL Odds: Broncos 24, Bears 20
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