Bears host Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football with a fourth straight win in reach
The 6-2 Bears host the 3-5 Buccaneers at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock, favored by close to a touchdown as they chase a fourth straight win.
The Chicago Bears close out a run of three straight prime-time games Sunday night, when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field. Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. ET (7:20 p.m. CT) on NBC, and the game also streams on Peacock and on live-TV services that carry NBC, such as YouTube TV, according to Yahoo Sports.
The stakes are simple. The 6-2 Bears are going for a fourth straight win and their sixth in seven games, the team's own preview notes. A win would put them at 7-2 going into the bye, Yahoo Sports reported. Tampa Bay comes in at 3-5 but has won two in a row, its first winning streak of the season, as the Buccaneers' preview points out.
Both teams have injury questions. Windy City Gridiron reported that running back Kyle Monangai is one of three Bears listed as questionable. On the other side, Tampa Bay has ruled out linebacker Yaya Diaby with a knee injury and listed receiver Emeka Egbuka as questionable, per Bleacher Nation.
What it means for Sunday night
Chicago's season numbers back up its spot as the favorite. The Bears have scored 214 points and allowed 160 through eight games, a margin of plus-54. They are 3-1 at home, and the one home loss was a 9-3 game against Minnesota. The offense has picked up speed lately, scoring 95 points in its last three games: 31-23 at Atlanta, 30-24 over New England and 34-17 at Seattle. The only lopsided defeat was the 31-7 loss at Green Bay, and the Bears have won every game since.
The board on this site's game page, which tracks 11 venues, has Chicago favored by close to a touchdown. Novig, one of the venues, lists the Bears at -239 to win outright, which pays $41.84 on $100, and Tampa Bay at +233. The spread on Novig is Bears -6.5 at +108. The best Chicago spread price anywhere is Pinnacle's -6 at -105, so the venues are half a point apart on the line itself. That matches the 6-point number On SI cited from DraftKings.
The total sits at 47.5 on Novig, with the over at -108 and the under at +102. Fanatics has the best under price elsewhere at 48, priced at -115. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9% to 5.0% on the spread and from 3.4% to 5.6% on the moneyline, so the gap between the cheapest and most expensive venues is meaningful even with the lines this close.
The total looks modest next to what Chicago has done. The Bears have topped 47 combined points in five of their eight games. Two of the exceptions, the 23-12 win over the Jets and the 9-3 loss to Minnesota, came at Soldier Field. The Monangai decision and Egbuka's status are the last pieces to watch before kickoff. Follow the season on the Bears team page.