Novig prices
Bears vs. Buccaneers: Sunday Night Football on NBC as Chicago chases a third prime-time win
The 6-2 Bears host the 3-5 Buccaneers Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, with Chicago favored by 6.5 points at Soldier Field.
The Chicago Bears close out a run of three straight prime-time games Sunday night at Soldier Field, where they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8:20 p.m. ET (7:20 p.m. Central) on NBC. Because it is the Sunday night game, the whole country gets the same broadcast, with no regional coverage maps to check, as USA TODAY Sports noted in its viewing guide.
If you don't have cable, you can stream it on Peacock, NBC's service. Fubo also carries NBC, and the league's NFL+ app will show the game on phones and tablets. The IndyStar confirmed the NBC and Peacock windows. It listed Chicago at 6-2 and Tampa Bay at 3-5.
Chicago arrives on a three-game winning streak, and the last two wins came under the lights. The Bears beat New England 30-24 on a Thursday night and then won 34-17 at Seattle on Monday night. USA TODAY reported that no team had ever beaten both of the previous season's Super Bowl teams in consecutive weeks. Caleb Williams completed 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards in Seattle. Jeffery Simmons, four days removed from his trade from Tennessee, had a sack on the Seahawks' opening drive. The Bears are 6-2 for the first time since 2012.
The schedule does Chicago no favors. The Bears get six days after flying back from the West Coast on Monday night, while Tampa Bay comes in with a full week of rest. The Buccaneers have won three of their last four, and last week they won without completing a pass, something USA TODAY said no team had done since the 1974 Buffalo Bills. "If I'm not gonna throw the ball, I have to get active somehow," Baker Mayfield said, according to USA TODAY. Windy City Gridiron points out that this is the Bears' last game before their bye.
What it means for Sunday night
The Bears' season so far shows two very different teams. They are 6-0 against everyone outside the NFC North. The two losses came against division opponents: a 9-3 home loss to Minnesota and a 31-7 loss at Green Bay. They have scored at least 23 points in each of their six wins, including 59 at Carolina. A win would put them at 7-2 going into the off week. A loss to a team with a losing record would undo some of what the Seattle trip established.
Chicago is favored on this site's board, which tracks 11 venues. On Novig, the Bears are -239 to win outright and Tampa Bay is +233. The spread sits at Bears -6.5, and Novig prices Chicago at +108 at that number. The best price anywhere on the Bears is Pinnacle's -104 at -6. Novig has the total at 47.5, with the over at -106 and the under at -100. That is two points higher than the 45.5 USA TODAY cited from FanDuel earlier in the week. USA TODAY also reported early movement toward Tampa Bay, with BetMGM dropping the Bucs to a 5.5-point underdog before Monday's game was even played. The sportsbooks' built-in margins run from about 2.4% to 5.6% depending on the market, so the gap between the cheapest and most expensive venue is noticeable on the moneyline.