Bears @ Chiefs Week 3 Game Preview
Jonathan Fuller previews the Week 3 matchup between the Bears and Chiefs from a betting perspective.
Chicago Bears @ Kansas City Chiefs
The most lopsided game of the week, according to Vegas lines, features the Chicago Bears on the road in Kansas City to take on the reigning Super Bowl Champions.
The Bears are currently 12.5-point underdogs, and it is difficult to make a case for that being too wide. The Chicago offense has been putrid through two weeks, with the passing game in particular the biggest disappointment.
Justin Fields ranks 32nd in average depth of throw and 21st in yards per attempt. To make these lackluster numbers even worse, he ranks 8th in turnover-worthy play rate.
This combination of inefficient passing to go along with bad decision-making has resulted in an offense that has struggled to find any sort of rhythm in their first two games.
Of course, it isn’t all on Fields. The scheme and talent around him aren’t great, but it is hard to find much of a silver lining through his 27 career starts.
They will have to try to get things going against a Chiefs defense that has been successful at limiting the Detroit and Jacksonville offenses through the first two weeks, ranking in the top 10 for points allowed against opposing QBs and RBs.
Unfortunately, the Bears' offense isn’t the end of their problems. Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams has resigned, and the lack of continuity at the top can’t be good for a unit that ranks 31st with 383 yards allowed per game so far.
They now have to try to stop Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.
Kansas City hasn’t gotten off to a blistering start, scoring just 20 and 17 points in their first two contests. However, no one should be doubting their status as one of the elite offenses in the NFL, and I have a feeling we may be reminded of that this week.
The Bears' defense has struggled to stop just about every aspect of opposing offenses, ranking in the bottom half of the league for fantasy points allowed to QBs, RBs, and WRs.
From a fantasy perspective, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are fixtures atop the QB and TE rankings for Week 3, but behind them, it is anyone’s guess where the fantasy points will come from.
The WR room in Kansas City is a jumbled mess with as many as seven players in the rotation. Mahomes has completed a pass to at least 10 different players in each of the Chiefs' first two games, which makes it incredibly difficult to project who will have value from week to week.
In a soft matchup against the Bears I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team try to get Kadarius Toney going, but his 29% route participation through two games makes him difficult to trust in any format.
The good news is both teams come into this game relatively healthy, at least at the positions we care about for fantasy football. Darnell Mooney left last week’s game for Chicago, but his injury is not considered serious.
If the Bears can keep this game competitive and find consistent success on offense, that would be a good outcome for this game. If they continue to play like they did in the first two weeks, we may see a lot of the Chiefs' backups in this one.