The Chicago Bears look to gain some ground in the NFC North while hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8.
The Bears and Chargers do not face off often, but when they do, the Bears usually come out on top. Chicago leads the all-time series 7-5 and have won the last two contests. The last time these two faced off was in 2015, and while Rivers was manning the field, Trubisky was still in college suiting up for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Once again, the headline for the Chargers revolves around their running back, Melvin Gordon. Gordon spent this past Sunday running for 32 yards, his highest for the season, eclipsing his previous best by one yard. That’s ironic, considering that one yard is the reason he is in the headlines. One yard was all he would have needed with seven seconds on the game clock to lead the Chargers to victory over the Tennessee Titans. Instead, he fumbled it.
Putting aside Gordon’s demand earlier in the season for more money, his poor performance showed a serious flaw for L.A. Gordon spilt his rushing yards with Austin Ekeler Sunday. Ekeler contributed a whopping seven yards on the ground. He did fantastic as a receiver, though, catching for 118 yards, which is more than any other player including the tight ends and wide receivers. The Chargers have no chance of winning games if they continue to run for under 40 yards a game. In fact, if they have a running game, there is a chance that they could beat the Bears. Rivers threw for 329 in the loss against the Titans. L.A. is still riddled with injuries, though. There are currently eight players listed as either questionable or out and 10 on the injured reserve.
A fun fact about the Bears this season is that they play amazing as long as they’re playing in their division. Their matchups against the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings have been their best played games, particularly defensively. Otherwise, mediocrity has been their middle name. Their past two games have been prime examples. They first lost 24-21 in London despite a strong third quarter rally. After a bye, they lost 36-25 to the New Orleans Saints, a game which should have been an easy win considering Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara were sidelined.
Ultimately, it comes down to how Mitchell Trubisky can pick apart the Chargers’ defense. He has been managing around 230 yards per game, which is about what Chase Daniels did as backup the weeks Trubisky was injured. While the Pittsburgh Steelers showed the league it is possible to beat the Chargers with so few yards, it hasn’t always worked. Trubisky will need to get yards and will need help from the running backs if the Bears are to take the win.
Game Info
Date: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019
Start Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Stadium: Soldier Field
TV Info: FOX
Betting Odds
Moneyline: LAC: (+182) | CHI: (-215)
Spread: LAC: +4 (-110) | CHI: -4 (-110)
Over/Under: 40
Prediction
At the beginning of the season, both of these teams were on trend to have great seasons based off their 2018 performances and this was going to be quite a matchup. However, both of the teams have made it evidently clearly that they are not playing at that caliber anymore. The game remains fairly evenly matched but not because of impressive talent. Rivers is a better quarterback than Trubisky; however, he should be concerned about the defense that was considered to be the best in the league at one point. Chicago is likely to squeak by with a win.
Final Score: Chicago Bears 24, Los Angeles Chargers 21
