The final game of NFL Preseason Week 2 features a matchup at Soldier Field between the Bears and Bills. Da Bears are -160 favorites at home on the Moneyline and are favored by three points on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at over/under 40.5 points.
See below for a full breakdown and my pick for tonight’s preseason matchup between the Bears and Bills.
Bears vs. Bills prediction
As of writing, Bills head coach Sean McDermott has yet to reveal if Josh Allen is going to suit up for tonight’s game. He did not play in Week 1 against the Giants, but it’s worth noting that he has started at least one preseason game in each of the last three preseasons and suited up last year against the Bears. Buffalo is trying to figure out its backup QB situation and even if Allen suits up, I’d be willing to bet that he plays a maximum of two series with both Mitch Trubisky and Mike White handling the rest of the game.
Caleb Williams is expected to receive some reps tonight and will look to get into the groove of his new offense led by new head coach Ben Johnson. This bodes well for Chicago to get points on the board quickly because Buffalo is dealing with a slew of injuries and likely won’t play all of its defensive starters. Plus, its defense just got torn up through the air by the Giants’ quarterback room. Both of Chicago’s backup QBs––Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent––looked solid last week, too, so even if Williams doesn’t play deep into the second quarter, the offense should still be able to move the ball well enough.
Bears vs. Bills pick, best bet
While Buffalo is the deeper team, it is dealing with quite a few injuries at the moment and I’d expect McDermott to be rather conservative tonight with starters’ reps to avoid further injuries. Even if Allen plays a drive or two, the Bills tend to start off slow offensively and find their groove in the second half following adjustments. Williams will likely see a healthy dose of snaps tonight after not playing in Week 1 and Johnson will want to establish his offensive identity as a coach.
These teams just held a joint practice on Friday, so they should be familiar with each other. It’s preseason, so take this with a grain of salt but Williams looked good last preseason against the Bills and the Bears won in a blowout. Chicago is the home team and will give more of its starters meaningful reps, and should cover the three-point spread tonight.
