Unseen Forces: How the Bears Might Ground the Ravens’ Flight to Victory

Can the Chicago Bears keep defying expectations or is the Baltimore Ravens’ returning star quarterback Lamar Jackson about to remind us why they’re the real deal? We’re already hurtling through Week 8 of the NFL season—crazy how fast the calendar flips when the pigskin’s in the air, right? I’ll admit, after tasting some sweet wins this year (aside from that brutal last weekend), I’m cautiously optimistic—but hey, football’s a fickle beast. The Bears have clawed back from a nightmare start, now sitting at an impressive 4-2, while the Ravens, battered and bruised, look to revive some spark with Jackson’s return. Will Derrick Henry pound through Chicago’s porous run defense to tilt the scales? Or is the pressure on Baltimore too much still, even with the bye week and home field advantage? I’m leaning toward the Bears being undervalued here—but as always, the game will answer that question on Sunday afternoon. Ready to cash in on the drama? Let’s dive in. LEARN MORE.

Bears vs. Ravens, 1:00 ET

Football, outside of last weekend, has been going very well this season. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to keep rolling; that could’ve been the cliff that I fall off of for the year, but I have confidence it will be a one-week thing. We go back to Week 8, which is crazy to think that we’ve already reached this point. Football always seems to move quickly, and it will be gone before we blink. The time is now to get in and get more money off of this season. I think I have the perfect opportunity for cash here as the Bears take on the Ravens.

As you loyal readers and podcast listeners know, I am not a Bears fan. I have never really been a fan of the team for a variety of reasons. However, even I have to give a hat tip to them as they are 4-2 for the season and have put behind a very poor start to their year. The Bears looked terrible the first two weeks. Caleb Williams looked great for the first quarter, maybe half, of the first game of the year against the Vikings. Then the Bears offense got nothing going and the defense gave away the game. In the next game, on the road against the Lions, Chicago got absolutely blitzed and demolished, allowing 52 points to Detroit. Since then, four straight wins against average to below-average teams. The Cowboys looked terrible against the Bears, but seem like they are decent. The Raiders and Commanders both played the Bears tough, and Chicago needed field goals late in the game to save the day. Last week in a rainy, cold game against New Orleans, Chicago was certainly the better team. Now comes a test against the Ravens, a team that is probably better than the 1-5 record indicates, but looked like they couldn’t stop a high school team on defense.

Those Ravens do get someone back in their flock this week that will clearly make a difference as Lamar Jackson returns, or is at least expected to return. Their team has been hurt by injuries, but honestly, what team isn’t? They certainly have had a number of key players missing, but I think it has become too much of an excuse. They only allowed 17 points to the Rams a couple of weeks ago, but they allowed at least 37 points to opponents in the other three games. On offense, it is a bit hard to hold anything against them in the past two games without Jackson. They only scored 13 points, and they had to pull him against Kansas City. More importantly, though, is them getting Derrick Henry going. Henry eventually has to lose effectiveness, and maybe it is this season. So far, he only has 439 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Though his average is fine, the team hasn’t been able to utilize him because they are playing from behind so often. He has two games of over 100 rushing yards. The Bears cannot stop the run, so it is a good opportunity for him again.

Baltimore has had one win this season, and it was against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns do have a better defense than the Bears, and this is arguably the easiest game that the Ravens have had to play this season. There are a lot of things in their favor here: Lamar Jackson returns, they are at home, they are coming off a bye, and Henry gets to face a team that is allowing 130+ rushing yards per game. Maybe I’m overreacting to the Bears playing well against bad teams, but this feels like they are getting too many points. I don’t think the bye week will solve all of the Ravens defensive issues. I also don’t know that Jackson will be 100% if he does play. Give me the Bears with the points.

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