The Chicago Bears host the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 13 showdown. Here are the odds and a preview of the game.
After finally ending their losing streak at five games, the Chicago Bears had themselves a mini-bye week. They haven’t played since Thanksgiving so they’ll have a ten-day period before they play again. They have a difficult game, however, as they host the Arizona Cardinals.
At 9-2, the Cardinals own the NFL’s best record. They come in with a high-powered offense and are well-rested, having a bye last week. They hope to have their two best players, quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, back. With a rested team and their best players back on the field, it’ll be a tall task for the Bears to win on Sunday.
Point Spread
Cardinals: -7.5 (-103)
Bears: +7.5 (-117)
Moneyline
Cardinal: -350
Bears: +265
Over/Under
45.5
- Over: -112
- Under: -108
(Odds by Tipico Sportsbook)
Game Preview
The Cardinals come into the game fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 28.2 points per game. The Bears, on the other hand, struggle offensively. They only average 16.3 points per game, ranking 29th.
To make matters worse, while Arizona has their best players come back, the Bears will be without their own. Quarterback Justin Fields has fractured ribs and his status for the game is still up in the air. Additionally, wide receiver Allen Robinson might not play as well with a hamstring injury.
Defensively, the Bears had a multitude of players miss practices. Mario Edwards Jr., Akiem HIcks, Sam Kamara, and Roquan Smith all missed some practices. They already miss Danny Trevathan and Khalil Mack, both of whom are on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season.
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Smith is a tackling machine. He already has 113 tackles this season. He was on his way to eclipsing his career-high 139, set last season. If he can’t go with his hamstring trouble, it will be a huge blow for the defense.
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If the Bears cannot generate a good pass rush this game could get ugly in a hurry, similar to the 38-3 Week 7 beatdown Chicago took against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Murray/Hopkins connection is one of the best in the league and if Murray has time to throw he’ll exploit the porous Bears secondary.
Even without Mack, the Bears still rank second in sacks with 32. Robert Quinn needs to continue his redemption tour. He recorded just two sacks in 2020, but he ranks fourth in the league this season with 11.
If the Bears have any chance they have to control the ball. That means their running game must dominate the game. The Bears rank eighth in rushing yards. They have to continue to run the ball so they can run as much clock as possible. Murray cannot hurt the Bears if he stays on the bench.
As good as the Cardinals are offensively, they are better on defense. They rank fourth in points allowed so a difficult road to scoring points is that much more difficult.
It’ll be interesting to see who starts at quarterback. Head coach Matt Nagy said FIelds is the starter when healthy. Of course, he said the same thing about Andy Dalton when he injured his knee and the next day FIelds became the starter. With a 4-7 record and dwindling hopes of making the playoffs, the team’s concern should be developing their young players, especially Fields.
If the Bears struggle out of the gate in the game the “Fire Nagy” chants will break out. Those chants spread all over the state, from Soldier Field to the Chicago Bulls game at the United Center, and at a University of Illinois game in Champaign. Unfortunately, they also did the chants during Nagy’s son’s football game. If the Bears get blown out early, those chants will take over Soldier Field. If the players didn’t like hearing it before, they’ll certainly hate it more this Sunday. Let’s hope the Bears are at least competitive.
Prediction: Cardinals 33 Bears 17