Washington Redskins vs. Chicago Bears Preview
Where: Soldier Field — Chicago, IL
When: Saturday, December 24, 2016, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Washington Redskins (-3.5) at Chicago Bears (+3.5); total: 46.5 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
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Betting on the Washington Redskins (-3.5)
With their ugly 26-15 loss to the Panthers Monday night, the Redskins will remain anxious about their playoff chances. They are still the sixth seed in the NFC, but have plenty of in-the-hunt teams waiting for them to collapse. The loss was their third in four games.
In the Carolina game, both the passing and running attack made little impact. Kirk Cousins once again threw for 300-plus yards, but he chose a bad time not to throw a TD. It was only the second time in 30 games that he failed to have a passing score.
The run game, meanwhile, only had 29 yards on 2.2 yards per carry, which was quite underwhelming considering they were averaging 109.3 rushing YPG coming in and were able gain 100-plus yards on the ground in seven of their previous 10 contests.
This coming Sunday, the ‘Skins will be matching their third-ranked passing offense (303.7 per game) against the Bears’ sixth-ranked pass defense (219.9 per game), which should be an interesting clash.
Despite only combining for 18 yards in the previous outing, Robert Kelley and Chris Thompson could still be given plenty of chances on Week 16, since they are facing the the league’s 23rd-ranked run defense.
On defense, Washington will have to be better both against the pass (260.7 per game, 24th) and the run (115.3, 22nd). The Bears’ receivers are coming off one of their strongest performances all year, and back Jordan Howard has been running well for several weeks.
Washington is 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five games on the road.
Betting on the Chicago Bears (+3.5)
The Bears concluded their Week 15 by tallying yet another loss, as the Packers made the plays to edge them with a gut-wrenching last-second field goal. The 30-27 defeat dropped Chicago to a 3-11 record, dead-last in the division and third-worst in the league.
Still, there is some silver lining. The game provided a little ray of hope to the team’s future at the quarterback position, with Matt Barkley displaying great resiliency – the third-year QB threw a pair of picks in the first half before rallying the offense in the fourth. He finished with 362 yards, two TDs, and three INTs.
It was easily the best performance of his career and made their 14th-ranked passing game looked a dozen times better. Through his balanced distribution, four Bears had at least four catches, two of which had 100 or more yards, namely Deonte Thompson and Cameron Meredith.
Moving forward, those two pass-catchers should be able to continue being decoys for the returning All-Pro receiver Alshon Jeffery, who came back on Sunday (suspended) and caught six passes for 89 yards and a score.
Rookie Jordan Howard is still their most consistent weapon. The back is the NFL’s second leading rusher since Week 8. During that span (seven games), he’s averaging 101 YPG on 5.1 yards per carry, along with five TD runs. Expect him to continue getting carry after carry.
As for the defense, the focus for Week 16 should be on stopping the run. They give up the 10th-most rushing yards in the league (115.5 per game), and have five straight opponents to gain 100 or more yards on the ground.
Writer’s Prediction
The ‘Skins (-3.5) win, 26-20.
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