Josh Allen did not help his campaign to be the Buffalo Bills’ starter in the regular season with a disastrous performance in the last game, but he could give it another try this Thursday against the Chicago Bears. Will Allen and the Bills upset the Bears on the road? Or will Chicago take care of business at Soldier Field?
In the NFL Futures odds, the Bills are +1,700 to win the AFC East, while the Bears are +900 to top the NFC North.
Betting on the Buffalo Bills (1-2 Preseason Record)
Rookie quarterback Josh Allen had a forgettable start, his first of his NFL career, last week against the Cincinnati Bengals at home. Allen completed just six of his 12 passes for 34 yards without a touchdown, but as bad as he was, it should be the team’s offensive line that should be getting much of the criticism. Allen was sacked five times for a loss of 39 yards. Quarterback Nathan Peterman also was sacked once for a loss of nine yards. The starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season is yet to be named by the Bills, but Peterman might have widened the gap between him and Allen by going 16-of-21 for 200 yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions against the Bengals.
Buffalo is 2-2 ATS in their last four preseason games.
Betting on the Chicago Bears (2-2)
Week 3 games in the preseason are usually where the starters play their last exhibition game before the regular season, but the Bears ignored that tradition and instead used a series of backups in last week’s 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at home. What that means is that the Bears are also likely going to use the same approach this Thursday. Instead of Mitchell Trubisky, head coach Matt Nagy will have Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray running the offense from under center. Daniel had 198 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-18 pass completions against the Chiefs. He also burned serious rubber, as he rushed for 47 yards on six carries.
The Bears are 3-1 ATS in their last four August games.
