Week 1 Sunday Night Football Betting Preview

by DS Williamson

One of the greatest rivalries in sports resumes on Sunday, Sep. 6 when the Chicago Bears battle the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 Sunday Night Football betting action. Despite Chicago's recent struggles, they seem poised to turn a page. How the next chapter in their football history reads is entirely unknown. Strangely, the same goes for the usually dominant and reliable Green Bay Packers.

NFL WEEK 1 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BETTING Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Sunday, September 6th - Lambeau Field - 8:20pm ET Odds: Green Bay -7.5 (47.5)

Bears Offense vs Packers Defense New Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy’s offensive system is similar to what Doug Pederson runs in Philadelphia. Both Pederson and Nagy are Andy Reid disciples. Nagy will lean on his running backs, Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, to take pressure off second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who was mediocre at best during the preseason. There's a lot of intriguing pieces surrounding Chicago's offense, including how the sheer force of their offensive line is, but none of it is proven. So despite preseason optimism leaning towards the Bears, the Packers defense get the nod in this one. Trubisky generates too many concerns overall, despite his potential.

Edge: Packers

Packers Offense vs Bears Defense By keeping eight wide receivers on the roster, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy showed he wants quarterback Aaron Rodgers to throw the football. That might not lead to success against a Chicago Bears defense that ranked 10^th overall last season. Opponents averaged 211 pass yards and 20 points against Chicago least season. The Bears traded for Khalil Mack, and he will definitely impact how Rodgers plays. Bears’ Round 1 pick linebacker Roquan Smith should be ready to go as well. Suddenly, Chicago has one of the best linebacker corps in the entire NFL. It looks like Chicago’s got the edge here.

Edge: Bears

Bears at Packers Betting Analysis and Score Prediction After opening at -8.5, the Week 1 Sunday Night Football betting line has adjusted to Packers -7.5. Eventually, the line could move back to -8.5 because every trend favors the home team, most notably the head-to-head metrics. Chicago is 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Green Bay, 10-25-1 ATS in the last 36 meetings, and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games in September. Powerful trends don’t always lead to a predicted outcome, though. Aaron Rodgers has plenty of capable targets to throw to, but he’s without his favorite target from 2016, Jordy Nelson. No receiver has truly emerged as the go-to passing threat for Rodgers, which could be both a good thing and a bad thing.

In 2018, the Bears front seven should be one of the top units in the NFL. The sudden arrival of Mack is a big game changer for this prime time event. With so many questions surrounding Green Bay's actual offensive potential, and people sleeping on Chicago's newly retooled defensive personnel, the Bears project as a sneaky cover team to conclude your football wagering on the first Sunday of the season.

Week 1 Sunday Night Football Betting Free Pick: Green Bay to win, Chicago to Cover +7.5