Thursday Night Football sees a showdown up North in week seven of the NFL season. The NFC North’s second place holder, the Green Bay Packers will be playing host to the divisions basement dwellers, the Chicago Bears. The 3-2 Packers are coming off a loss, as the Cowboys won in Green Bay by the score of 30-16. The 1-5 Bears suffered their second straight loss, as the Jacksonville Jaguars went into Chicago in week six and won 17-16. Both teams will look to get back on the winning track this Thursday.
For the Bears, it seems like it will once again be Brian Hoyer under center. Hoyer is coming off his worst game, as he was unable to make anything happen on offense against the Jags. Rookie running back Jordan Howard did score Touchdown last week, but only managed 34 yards on 15 carries. But prior to last week he had been on a roll, and remains one of the bright spots of the offense. Wide receiver Cameron Meredith has also been a major bright spot for the offense, but the problem has been his success has not resulted in success for the team. It does not help that the defense is not the greatest, but when they do manage to hold opponents to low scores, their offense is that much worse.
The Packers simply have not looked right. At the center of the issue, Aaron Rodgers does not look like Aaron Rodgers. A week ago, Rodgers missed a wide open wide receiver for a touchdown, and that was only one of many off throws for the star quarterback. Running back Eddie Lacy is out several weeks with an ankle injury, and James Starks with a knee issue. The team just acquired Knile Davis from Kansas City, but there is no way he can be ready to go by Thursday in any full capacity. That means the team will be lacking a running presence this week, and it will all be on the passing game. Considering Mike McCarthy likes to run a conservative system where he runs at times he shouldn’t, it will be interesting to see how things play out. The wide receivers have had their issues with drops to go along with Rodgers inconsistent play as well, and that will only make things even more interesting.
At the end of the day, this is a game that should tell us a lot about the Packers. If something is indeed wrong with Rodgers, it will show this week. I am not exactly high on Chicago, and the Packers are coming off an embarrassing loss at home. So given the Packers are home once again, this should be a week they step up if they want to prove they are not going to roll over. I expect the Pack to come out on top, but I do not see them covering with a seven and a half point spread.
For all week seven NFL Spreads and Over/Under’s, check out our NFL week 7 Betting Odds master-sheet here.
Line: Packers -7.5, O/U: 46
Pick: Bears and the under
Result: GB 26 – Chi 10, Packers and the under