The Chicago Bears visit the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Thursday night in Week 2 of the 2022 NFL Preseason.
Chicago went 6-11 SU and 6-11 ATS last season with an over/under record of 7-10. The Bears won their first preseason game last week, rallying to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 19-14. Meanwhile, Seattle was 7-10 SU and 9-8 ATS last season with an over/under record of 6-11. The Seahawks were outgunned by the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, 32-25.
Seattle opened as three-point favorites but the early heavy betting action on them prompted oddsmakers to move the line to -5 points. That line has since settled at -4 points at online sportsbook BetOnline.
Chicago Bears
Chicago is in a rebuilding mode right now. They have a young QB in Justin Fields who is coming off a subpar rookie season where he threw only 7 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. The Bears added veteran QB Trevor Siemian to help Fields grow and provide experience on the field. Last week Siemian passed for 89 yards while Fields connected on 4 of 7 passes.
The Bears’ top running back David Montgomery did not see action last week due to injury and isn’t expected to play in this game either. Khalil Herbert is RB2 on this team and he is coming off a year where he rushed for 433 yards in a respectable showing. Darnell Mooney is the team’s no. 1 wide receiver but he did not see action last week with a leg injury. Meanwhile, Byron Pringle is the team’s no. 2 wideout.
Chicago averaged 18.3 points per game last season which was only good for 27th overall. The Bears also held their opponents to 23.9 points per game which were good for the 22nd-best in the league.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks have a quarterback battle right now with Drew Lock and Geno Smith trying to earn the QB1 job left open when the team traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos during the offseason. Both Lock and Smith played well last week and are expected to feature once again on Thursday night.
Between the two, Smith is favored to be the starter. He has spent the past few years in Seattle and has done well in limited playing time. Last season, Smith had five TDs and one interception. Lock meanwhile threw for 4,740 passing yards as the starter in Denver but only had a TD: INT ratio of 25:20 in 24 total games started. RB1 Rashad Penny is dealing with an injury and is unlikely to play. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 29 yards last week. The Seahawks have good depth at WR with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Seattle ranked 16th in scoring last season at 23.2 points per game. They were 11th in scoring defense at 21.5 points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
The Bears are 2-4 SU in their last six games played against the Seahawks. Chicago is also 2-7 SU in their last nine road games against Seattle.
Chicago Bears SU trends:
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The Bears are 4-9 SU in their last 13 games played.
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They are 2-4 SU in their last six games played on the road.
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Chicago is 3-1 SU in their last four road preseason games.
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They are 4-2 SU in their last six preseason games.
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They are also 1-5 SU in their last six games against the NFC West
Seattle Seahawks SU trends:
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The Seahawks are 4-2 SU in their last six games played.
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They are 3-5 SU in their last eight games played at home.
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Seattle is 1-3 SU in their last four preseason games played.
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They are 6-4 SU in their last 10 preseason home games.
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They are also 5-1 SU in their last six Thursday games.
The Bears saw themselves trailing by two touchdowns at home during their first preseason game. But they scored 16 points in the third period and added a field goal in the final stanza as they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 19-14 as 1.5-point home underdogs. Trevor Siemian completed 7 of 13 passes for 89 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Bears have rewarded their backers in preseason play by going 7-2 U and 8-1 ATS in their last nine preseason games as betting underdogs. That record includes a 5-2 SU and 6-1 ATS record on the road during that span. They racked up 137 rushing yards on 32 carries against Kansas City and are likely to employ another run-heavy attack against the Seahawks as they look to figure out the depth behind David Montgomery.
The Seahawks moved the ball well in their first preseason game and scored 25 points but that was not good enough to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers who beat them 32-25. Geno Smith and Dew Lock put up almost similar numbers with Smith going 10-15 for 101 yards and Lock putting up 102 passing yards on 11-15 passing and two TDs.
Seattle is just 4-8 SU and ATS in their last dozen preseason games played. The Seahawks were an outstanding preseason team before the 2018 season as they went 9-1 SU and 8-2 TS in a span of 10 preseason games. However, the results have not been as good as of late. Last week, they lost to the Steelers as 2-point underdogs.
The quarterback competition between Lock and Smith is going to be the highlight of this game once again. Expect the Seahawks to give both plenty of looks as possible and this should lead to plenty of scoring from them once again. The Seattle offense should be the key to victory here as they outscore the Bears.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks
Bears vs Seahawks ATS Betting
Chicago is 2-4 ATS in their last six games played against Seattle. The Bears are also 2-6 ATS in their last eight road games against the Seahawks.
Chicago Bears ATS trends:
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The Bears are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games played.
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Chicago is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games.
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They are 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 Thursday games.
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The Bears are also 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games on field turf.
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They are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 vs. NFC.
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They are also 1-5 ATS in their last six games against the NFC West Division
Seattle Seahawks ATS trends:
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The Seahawks are 2-5 ATS in their last seven preseason games.
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They are 4-2 ATS in their last six games played overall.
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They are also 3-2 ATS in their last five home games.
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They are 3-1 ATS in their last four preseason home games.
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Seattle is 1-5 ATS in their last six games played against the NFC North Division.
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They are 1-5 ATS in their last six August games.
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The Seahawks are 8-2-2 ATS in their last 12 Thursday games.
Bears
+4 (-110)
Seahawks
-4 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 08/17/2022
The Seahawks have yet to resolve their QB1 issue with Drew Lock and Geno Smith still battling it out in the preseason. Both were fantastic the last time out and produced nearly similar numbers.
I expect another head-to-head duel between the two in this game with each trying to outdo the other to earn the starter role. Last week, both completed 65% of their passes and passed for over 100 yards, resulting in 25 points. Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough to win against the Steelers.
The Bears are different. They have a new head coach in Matt Eberflus and they are still learning the new schemes under their new boss. Last week, they scored 19 points, but 16 came in one quarter so it’s not that they are consistently playing great offense throughout the game.
Pete Carroll is a solid 26-17 in preseason play. The Bears will prefer to run and hence they won’t be able to put up as many points here. Give me the Seahawks to outscore the Bears in this game. Seattle should build a big lead early and then hang on to win the game and cover this reasonable spread.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks -4
Bears vs Seahawks Over/Under Betting
The total has gone over in nine out of the last 11 meetings between these two teams. The over is 4-2 in their last six meetings in Seattle.
Chicago Bears over/under trends:
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The total has gone over in six out of the last 10 games played by the Bears.
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The over is 4-1 in their last six games played on the road.
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The total has gone over in 9 out of their last 12 games played in August.
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The over is also 7-3 in their last 10 games played on field turf.
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The over is also 7-2-1 in the Bears’ last 10 preseason games.
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The total has gone over in seven out of Chicago’s last 10 preseason road games.
Seattle Seahawks over/under trends:
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The total has gone over in five out of the last six games played by the Seahawks.
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The over is 4-1 in their last five games played on field turf.
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The Seahawks have seen the total go over in four out of their last five games played against the NFC Conference.
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The under is 2-8 in Seattle’s last 10 preseason home games.
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The total has gone under in five out of the last six preseason games played by the Seahawks.
Over
39 (-110)
Under
39 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 08/17/2022
Looking back at Week 1 of the preseason, only three of the total games played went under. And this one should be no different. While Chicago is expected to run the football more in this game, they have plenty of experience in the QB position with Siemian and Peterman who have been in the league for a while. They should be able to move the ball well and throw some scores against a Seattle defense that allowed over 400 yards and 32 points last week.
Seattle has averaged 26 points per game in its last two preseason games played. With Lock and Smith still battling for the QB1 job, look for both to play significant minutes while trying to prove their worths. Both played well last week and with the job still on the line, they should deliver again this week.
These teams have combined to score an average of 45+ points per game in their last 10 head-to-head meetings. Give me these teams to combine for 40+ points in this game.
Prediction: Over 39