Las Vegas Raiders vs. Chicago Bears Expert Pick – October 22, 2023

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS VS. CHICAGO BEARS EXPERT PICK – OCTOBER 22, 2023 – Greeting football fans. Welcome back to our weekly NFL coverage here at Godzilla.

In a matchup that will not garner a lot of fanfare, the Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (1-5).

Here is a look at which team has the edge going into this Week 7 matchup and why.

Kickoff

When: Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 1:00 PM ET

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

TV: FOX

The Odds

Odds courtesy of DraftKings

Las Vegas Raiders vs. Chicago Bears – In-Season & Betting Trends

Raiders Hoping To Extend Their Winning Streak To Three Games

We will start with the road team first. Las Vegas improved to 3-3 following a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots. Jimmy Garoppolo was 14-of-22 for 162 yards, but he exited the game due to a back injury. Backup quarterback, Brian Hoyer, completed six of his 10 passing attempts for 102 yards.

The Raiders are ranked 11^th in total offense, but just 24^th in total yards allowed (292.3). Furthermore, they are averaging a pedestrian 16.7 points per contest. Good enough for the fifth-worse scoring team in the league.

Meanwhile, Chicago is coming off a 19-13 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota was without its top receiver, Justin Jefferson. Additionally, the Bears limited Kirk Cousins to 181 passing yards. But despite the team’s best defensive performance of the season, the Bears could not generate enough offense to come out on top against a short-handed opponent.

Speaking of being short-handed, Justin Fields has been ruled out of this contest with a thumb injury.

Enter Tyson Bagent.

Tyson Bagent Looking To Bounce Back From Uneven Performance In Week 6

Bagent saw his first NFL action last week. I think Bears fans can agree that we saw some good and bad plays from the undrafted rookie. On the negative side, he was stripped-sack on the third play of his NFL career. The subsequent fumble that was returned for a touchdown, gave the Vikings a 19-6 lead. Bagent did redeem himself, engineering a scoring drive that was capped off by a one-yard quarterback sneak.

Because of how well the defense played, Bagent had one last chance to lead the team to victory. Unfortunately, he underthrew DJ Moore and the pass was intercepted at the Vikings’ eight-yard line. All in all, it was not an overly-terrible performance by the rookie quarterback. But it will be interesting to see how he plays with a full week of preparation under his belt.

The Picks

The Spread

The Raiders opened as a 1.5-point favorite. That line has moved to (-2.5). Chicago has dropped 10 consecutive games at home. That said, it would be difficult to pick them winning this game outright. But trying to determine which team will cover the spread is equally difficult because neither team has performed well against the spread, either.

Here is a look at what I am talking about.

• Las Vegas is 2-5 ATS in its last seven games against Chicago.
• The Raiders are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games.
• Chicago is a woeful 2-11-1 ATS in its last 14 outings.
• The Bears are 1-4 ATS in their last five Week 7 matchups.
• Lastly, Chicago is 0-6-1 in the last seven Sunday games.

See what I mean?

The one area where the Bears may excel against Las Vegas is their ability to run the football. Chicago is averaging 136 rushing yards per outing. The Raiders are ranked 21^st in this category, which means the Bears’ ground game could loom large. Not only that, but an effective run game could make life much easier for Bagent in his first NFL start.

Prediction: Bears (+2.5)

Over/Under

Over/Under

The projected over/under total for this contest opened at 46.5. That line has significantly moved down to 37.5. It is all but a certainty that both teams fielding backup quarterbacks in this contest has a lot to do with that sharp decrease. Given that fact, here is why I am going with the under here.

• The UNDER total has cashed in six times in Las Vegas’ last seven games.
• In the Raiders’ last five road matchups against Chicago, the UNDER is 4-1.
• The UNDER has a 4-1 record for the Raiders in their last five October games.
• The total has been under 41 in five of the Raiders’ last six games.

Prediction: UNDER 37.5 points

Player Prop Bet

My player to watch in this contest is Bears wide receiver, DJ Moore. He currently has -115 odds of accumulating 53.5 total yards and -115 odds of accumulating less than 53.5 yards.

After a somewhat slow start this season, Moore had eight catches for 131 yards against the Denver Broncos in Week 4. He followed that up with a career night against the Washington Commanders the following week. He finished with eight receptions for 230 yards and three touchdowns.

As a result of that outstanding performance, Moore won the NFC Player of the Week award. With that in mind, he needs to be a big part of the team’s offense this week and every week going forward as well.

Prediction: DJ Moore OVER 53.5 Yards