Chiefs go for 5th straight win in Sunday night showdown with Bears

Soldier Field is the site for Sunday night’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. The Chiefs are fighting for playoff position in the penultimate week of the NFL season while the Bears are effectively, but not mathematically, eliminated. Kansas City has been the much better bet lately and should reward their backers’ faith once more.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears odds

Mahomes has rediscovered his MVP form

Patrick Mahomes has been rounding back into form for the Chiefs during their four-game win streak (4-0 against the spread). The defending league MVP went 27-for-34 with 340 yards and two touchdowns in snowy conditions at Arrowhead Stadium against the Denver Broncos last week. Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano is not taking Mahomes lightly heading into this affair.

“[Mahomes is] rare. He’s elite. Whatever adjective you want to put on him,” he told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday. “The arm talent is crazy. The throws that he makes on schedule are crazy. The off-schedule ones are just mind-boggling, under duress, you know, feet not set, drifting backwards, jumping up in the air, across his body.”

Pagano added that it would take “great discipline [and] relentless effort” from his unit in order to pull off the upset. Chicago boasts a solid defense, third in scoring at 18.1 points allowed per contest, but they’re a modest 13th in stopping the pass (227.4 yards allowed per game). The Bears’ secondary has regressed over the last three weeks, allowing an average of 259 passing yards in that span.

Chicago's sputtering offense will have trouble putting points on the board

Chicago’s ineffective offense (26th in scoring and 30th in yards per play) is a big reason why they’re 2-8 against the spread in their last 10 tries. Just when it looked like Mitchell Trubisky and company had things figured out during a three game win streak (24.7 points per game in that span) they crashed back down to earth with an uninspired 13-point effort in a loss to the Packers last week.

Meanwhile, Kansas City’s much-maligned defense has played like an elite unit over the last month, surrendering just 11.3 points per contest. This squad is expected to be bolstered by recent waiver-wire pickup Terrell Suggs.

NFL free pick: Chiefs -6

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