NFL Preseason 2016 Week 2: Patriots/Bears Pick, Predictions, Preview, And Betting Odds
The NFL preseason 2016 Week 2 kicks off Thursday evening, and the Bears take on the Patriots. The game takes place at Gillette Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island, and kickoff is at 8 p.m. EST. The current betting line/spread for the Patriots/Eagles game has the Patriots favored by a line of -4 and the over/under is at 40.5.
About the Bears
The Bears kicked off the 2016 NFL preseason by implementing a unique strategy of not scoring any points. The Bears were taken to the woodshed by the Broncos and the final score of the game was 22-0. This is the queue for Chicago fans to say, “It’s only preseason; it doesn’t count.” Rest assured, when a team is decimated like the Bears were by successfully scoring zero points, it counts. There is not one team whose morale wouldn’t suffer by losing in that fashion.
Leading the losing effort last week was backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, who successfully made one interception and passed for 81 yards, reminding the Texans that they made the right move by cutting Hoyer from their team. Fellow backup quarterback Connor Shaw had two plays for 14 yards. Starting quarterback Jay Cutler threw only four passes in the opening game, so look for him to play some more in Week 2.
On the bright side, Chicago isn’t last in everything, as their rushing game is ranked at number 30 thanks to 48 rushing yards. Deonte Thompson stood out a bit; the receiver had two received passes for 33 yards. The defensive side of things wasn’t much better for the Bears. The NFL average for Week 1 in sacks is seven, and the Bears only made three in that game. However, they did manage an interception thanks to Jerrell Freeman. During the entire game, the Bears didn’t advance past the Broncos’ 44-yard line.
About the Patriots
The Patriots had a much better week than Chicago as they implemented the trustworthy strategy of putting points up on the board. New England successfully beat the Saints 34-22. Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo led the way for the Patriots with 11 completions and 168 passing yards, and in contrast to Chicago, New England lead the NFL in points scored.
Malcolm Mitchell received for 55 yards, and A.J. Derby received for 47. Garoppolo showed he is up to the task as NFL quarterback and look for him to continue to lead the Patriots in Week 2 of the NFL 2016 preseason. The ground game looked good for the Patriots as running back Tyler Gaffney had one touchdown with 64 rushing yards and the Patriots averaged five yards per carry. Meanwhile, running back LeGarratte Blount also rushed for a touchdown. Defensively, the Patriots were solid as Jonathan Jones had one pass deflection, Trey Flowers had six tackles, and Geneo Grissom made one sack.
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Patriots/Bears Pick for the NFL Preseason 2016 Week 2 Game
The Bears scored zero points in their opener, and one line of logic would be to say that the odds that they do that again are slim to none. But anything can happen in the NFL. Most likely the Bears will put some points on the board this go around but it probably won’t be a lot. The Patriots have proven that they can still score without Brady and they should put up a lot of points against the Bears’ defense. The safe play is to stay away from the over/under until the Bears prove that they can manage to score. If a bet must be placed, then a small wager on the over is the play here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWMANyFMpnI
The Patriots have shown stability, and Garoppolo is starting the first four games and is well equipped to do so. He is getting a ton of reps compared to the Bears who are tossing the ball back and forth between their quarterbacks. It cannot be stated enough how awesome the Patriots looked in their opener and how pathetic the Bears looked in theirs. With the Patriots only giving up four points, a wager on the Patriots at -4 is the play here for this NFL preseason 2016 Week 2 game.
[Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]
