Will Baker Mayfield be able to wake up dangerous two weeks in a row? Last week, Mayfield led the underdog Buccaneers (1-0) to an upset win over the Minnesota Vikings. His squad will look to pick up their second win of the season when welcome the Chicago Bears (0-1) to Raymond James Stadium. The Buccaneers open the week as 2.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Bears vs. Buccaneers, Week 2: Pick against the spread
While Mayfield only threw for 174 yards in Week 1, he tallied two touchdown passes, one of which tied the game in the third quarter. While he started slow, he led the Bucs on two scoring drives in the second half, with the last scoring drive coming in the form of the go-ahead field goal. Part of the reason he only needed to lead two scoring drives was because of the stringy play from his defense, as the Bucs’ defense forced two turnovers and four punts.
On the other side, the Bears (0-1) are coming off a 38-20 loss to the Packers that featured four quarters of listless play from them. Justin Fields only averaged 5.6 yards per pass (but had 59 yards on the ground), while Darnell Mooney was the team’s top receiver with 53 yards receiving. The bigger problem was the lackluster play of their defense, as they allowed Jordan Love to pick them apart for 245 yards, while the Packers added on 92 yards on the ground as a team.
While I can see this going either way, I’m going with Mayfield and the Buccaneers. While neither of these teams are a complete team, the Buccaneers seemed to have found their identity in a grind-out win. Tampa Bay had three 10+ play drives against Vikings and should be able to pick up a win against the Bears using the same formula.