Week 7 Preview: Bears at Patriots – October 24, 2022

The Chicago Bears are back in primetime tonight when they visit the New England Patriots in Foxboro on Monday Night Football. I’m firmly in the camp that the Bears shouldn’t be featured in primetime slots until they’re good again, if for no other reason than them becoming even more of a national punching bag than they already are.

But here we are. The Bears will try to pick up their first regular season victory against the Patriots since December of 2000 and their first victory in Foxboro ever tonight.

Preppin' for the Pats 💪@lscreeden has the latest from Halas Hall in your #BearsUpdate. pic.twitter.com/FOFA56TkLo

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 21, 2022

Game Info

Chicago Bears (2-4, 3rd NFC North) at New England Patriots (3-3, T-3rd AFC East) – ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters); ESPN 2 (Manning Cast); WBBM 780 AM, 105.9 FM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Kickoff Time: 7:15 PM CT
Site: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Ma.
Referee: Brad Allen
Odds: NE -8.5, O/U 40 (via DraftKings Sports Book)

We Got $5 On It

Note: Patrick’s listed bets were placed on Draft Kings Sportsbook, while Luis’ were made at BetMGM.

Lu’s Plays

One Game Parlay: Darnell Mooney 50+ receiving yards, Justin Fields OVER 34.5 rushing yards, Justin Fields any time TD (+900) — Darnell Mooney and Justin Fields fit the profile of the types of players who have hurt the Patriots this year. Fields’ athleticism and mobility can give a Belichick defense fits. Meanwhile, the Pats have let Mooney-types gain yards through splash plays. With that in mind, I think we’ll see Fields gain a chunk of yards on the ground, Mooney get a high volume of targets through the air, and ultimately, a Fields ground score to tie it all together. A $5 bet at +900 nets us a $50 win, which could go to Halloween fun time next week.

Patrick’s Plays

Same-Game Parlay: David Montgomery anytime TD scorer, David Montgomery alternate rushing yards 55+, Darnell Mooney alternate receiving yards 50+ (+850) — If the Bears have a shot at beating the Patriots tonight, this bet seems like a pretty necessary output from two key cogs on the offensive side of things. And hey, even if they lose and we get these performances, we still win $47.50 on a $5 bet.

You can get in on this action at DraftKings:

[bet-promo id=”166783″ ]

But there are a number of other official gambling apps you can use (with some juicy promos) right here.

Starting QBs and Projected Game Stats

Patriots: Mac Jones: 20/30, 214 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 2 carries, 5 rushing yards

vs.

Bears: Justin Fields: 16/26, 182 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 7 carries, 36 rushing yards

Week 7 projected stats via ESPN projections

Bears Projected Starters

Offense
•   QB Justin Fields
•   RB David Montgomery
•   WRs Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Velus Jones Jr.
•   TE Cole Kmet
•   LT Braxton Jones, LG Michael Schofield, C Lucas Patrick, RG Teven Jenkins, RT Larry Borom

Defense
•   LDE Al-Quadin Muhammad, LDT Angelo Blackson, RDT Justin Jones, RDE Robert Quinn
•   SAM Nicholas Morrow, MIKE Joe Thomas, WILL Roquan Smith
•   LCB Jaylon Johnson, RCB Kyler Gordon
•   FS Eddie Jackson, SS Jaquan Brisker

Specialists
•   Cairo Santos (kicker), Trenton Gill (punter, holder), Patrick Scales (long snapper), Eddie Jackson? (punt returns), Velus Jones Jr. (kick returns)

Patriots Projected Starters

Offense

•   QB Mac Jones
•   RB Damien Harris
•   WRs Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Nelson Agholor
•   TE Hunter Henry
•   LT Trent Brown, LG Cole Strange, C David Andrews, RG Mike Onwenu, RT Isaiah Wynn

Defense

•   LDE Deatrich Wise Jr., NT Davon Godchaux, RDE Lawrence Guy
•   WLB Matthew Judon, LILB Jahlani Tavai, RILB Raekwon McMillan, SLB Josh Uche
•   LCB Jonathan Jones, RCB Jalen Mills
•   FS Devin McCourty, SS Kyle Dugger

Specialists
•   Nick Folk (kicker), Jake Bailey (punter, holder), Joe Cardona (long snapper), Markus Jones, Pierre Strong Jr. (kick and punt returns)

Three Bears

Matt Eberflus is a rookie head coach who’s turned in a largely mixed bag of results on and off the field in his first campaign, so to say that his task of out-scheming one of the greatest to ever do it on the opposite sideline will be an eye-opening experience for him.

Eberflus spoke plenty during the mini-bye this week about changing some things up in the personnel department and schematically, so it’ll be interesting to see what those changes look like.

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Justin Fields was bruised and battered on Thursday night against the Commanders, but he says he’s feeling better after a nice break from the Bears playing in the TNF slot in Week 6. Fields did some nice things last week in the losing effort. The touchdown throw to Dante Pettis was a thing of beauty and precisely why people are so adamant that this kid will be a great quarterback down the road.

There were also some not-very-good things. The miss of Ryan Griffin in the end zone was simply a bad throw. Yes, he was under pressure all night and admitted that his internal clock was accelerated as a result, but the play was a perfect call, and Fields has to make a better throw there, full stop.

Fields will oppose 2021 NFL Draft classmate Mac Jones tonight, and it sure would be nice to see Fields have a strong game and hush the narrative that will surely be everywhere Tuesday morning if Fields lays an egg.

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Darnell Mooney had his best game of the season in the Week 6 loss to Washington, hauling in seven passes on 12 targets, crossing the 10-target threshold for the first time this season. Mooney’s previous high was six against the Texans in Week 3.

Let’s hope that Fields and Mooney can parlay that rhythm into a similar performance tonight.