With all the storylines that have developed through two weeks of the NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals have quietly been one of the worst teams in the league. Their offense has scored a total of six points in two games, and they have a nightmare matchup in Week 3 against a Bears defense that leads the league in sacks. The Cards go into the game as a 6-point underdog against the Bears. The total is set at the lowest it’s been in the NFL all year at 37.5.
- The total has gone UNDER in five of the Cardinals’ last six games (avg. combined score: 31.83).
- The Bears are 2-15 SU in their last 17 games on the road.
- The Cardinals have only scored six points this season, worst in the league by 17 points.
Bears vs Cardinals Game Center
The Cards offense can’t cover the spread on their own toast, take Chicago -6
In their first game of the season, the Cardinals lost to the Redskins 24-6. They followed that performance by being shut out by the Rams 34-0. That means that they’ve been outscored by a total of 58-6.
Sam Bradford is not turning out to be the acquisition that Cards fans hoped he was going to be, as he has one of the worst QB ratings through the first two games (55.6). He’s been errant with his throws, while the completions he does get are short ones. The longest passing play against the Rams was a 15-yard catch by Larry Fitzgerald. The play-calling has been poor as well, with star RB David Johnson only getting 14 touches last game.
While I understand that the Bears don’t exactly have the best offense in football at the moment either, they’re still scoring 23.5 points per game against teams that are a lot more competent than the Cardinals. Mitch Trubisky is starting to look more comfortable in his new offense, and the play-calling has shown signs of brilliance, like the shovel-pass TD on Monday night against the Seahawks. The Bears shouldn’t have any issue covering the 6-point spread and I consider it my best bet for this game.
Khalil Mack has been downright scary with the Bears
One of the top storylines heading into the football season was the dispute between the Oakland Raiders and All-Pro defensive lineman Khalil Mack. They eventually gave in and traded the pass rusher to the Bears on September 1, just eight days away from their first game of the season.
Since putting on a Bears uniform, Mack has done nothing but shine. He’s already racked up eight tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception and a defensive touchdown, making him an early candidate for defensive player of the year. His presence alone has helped the Bears’ entire defense, since they can run more freely while opponents’ offenses have to focus their attention on Mack.
Through two games, the Bears defense leads the NFL in sacks with 10. Now they are matched up against the league’s worst offense, so expect a field day for them. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to me if they can add another defensive touchdown on the board as they’ve already got one in each of their first two contests.
Don’t feel comfortable with the Bears beating the spread? How about the UNDER?
The lowest total of the season thus far has been set for this game with Sportsbook making the OVER/UNDER 37.5. Despite this low total, the UNDER is still a play you may want to consider. The Cards offense is clearly atrocious, but the Bears offense isn’t anything to write home about either. If both teams can limit their turnovers, it will be tough for many points at all to be put on the board.
Sportsbook has the Arizona team total set at 15.5 points, which I’m even more comfortable taking the UNDER on. For the Cards to go OVER, this would mean they’d have to score almost three times as many points as they’ve scored in their first two games combined. That should be an easy bet barring Trubisky giving away interceptions like flyers on a sidewalk.
