New England Patriots @ Chicago Bears Pick & Preview

New England Patriots @ Chicago Bears Pick & Preview: I don’t think I can bet against Tom Brady right now unless him and his Patriots are giving a lot of points. I know this strategy will eventually be my undoing, as they’re bound to regress one of these weeks – but the way Tom is throwing the ball, and the way his offensive line gives him time, it’s hard not to see holes in the Bears’ secondary.

Chicago seems to capitalize big time on negative plays by opposing offenses. After a penalty sets their opponents back, they do a good job of eliminating comfort routes, short pass plays to get that yardage back. They are an explosive defense that rips the ball out, and if they weren’t playing the Patriots, I would strongly consider them. But they are playing the Patriots, and while New England doesn’t rate out very high defensively, and while they haven’t scores as many points this year as they have in the past, they are playing very good football of late – having beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh, the Colts, the Lions, and the Jets in consecutive weeks. The most impressive outings were against New York and Pittsburgh –but really they showed dominating times in all games. Against New York it was from start to finish, similar to their game against Pittsburgh – but against Indy, the Patriots dominated the first few quarters before Peyton crawled back. Against Detroit they were actually down at half, and it was close gong into the 4th – but that’s when the Patriots dominated the game, looking like one of if not the best team in football.

The Bears are a nice value getting three points at home, a place they’ve lost at just twice this season. And New England is on the road where they aren’t flawless like they seem to be at home. But all things considered, and value being taken into account, I have to take the Patriots because they have the best coach in football, they have Tom Terrific, and that young defense has played a lot better than the season stats let you believe.

New England Patriots (-3) @ Chicago Bears