Panthers vs. Bears Predictions, Picks & Odds Week 10

sportsbookreview.com

06 November 2023

Panthers vs. Bears Predictions, Picks & Odds Week 10

The two-win Chicago Bears play host to the one-win Carolina Panthers in a Week 10 Thursday Night Football matchup that could go a long way toward determining who gets the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, and we make our top Panthers vs. Bears predictions for Thursday Night Football based on the best NFL odds.

The Indianapolis Colts handed the struggling Carolina Panthers their fifth double-digit loss of the year in Week 9. It marked Carolina's worst start since 2010 and tied them for most losses of 10-plus points in the league this year. If the Panthers secure a victory over the Chicago Bears, they will leave the Arizona Cardinals as the NFL's only one-win team, putting them in a prime position for the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The Bears, with a 2-7 record, are experiencing their worst start since 2016 on the other side. They endured a 24-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 9, as backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who had won his NFL debut, has now suffered consecutive losses.

Here is our best Panthers vs. Bears prediction for Thursday Night Football (odds via our best NFL betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Panthers vs. Bears prediction: Thursday Night Football

Panthers +3.5 (-110 via BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐

We are making this wager under the assumption that Bears quarterback Justin Fields will not be healthy enough to start on a short week. The narrative surrounding Panthers rookie Bryce Young after Week 9 is how his statistics pale compared to C.J. Stroud’s, who just turned in the greatest performance by a rookie quarterback ever with a record 470 passing yards and five touchdowns.

However, while Young is being ridiculed for throwing two pick-sixes last week (his third game with two-plus interceptions), he has done some good things as well, like joining Justin Herbert as the only quarterback since the merger with 20-plus completions in their first seven NFL games. In addition, Bagent has turnover issues of his own (two touchdowns and four turnovers in his three starts) and is largely responsible for the Bears having a -5 turnover margin for the first time since 2016.

Young has been sacked 14 times over the previous three games, and his wide receivers rank in the bottom five of the league in separation yards. However, the Bears have recorded just one sack over the last three games, even though newly acquired Montez Sweat had the second-best pass rush win rate of any edge rusher last week. However, Chicago’s overall inability to pressure the quarterback is nothing new, as this is now the second time this season the Bears have gone consecutive games without a sack.

This is a three-star play, as Carolina’s defense finally showed some life and held up well in the trenches last week. Indianapolis entered the game ranked ninth in rushing (129.0 yards per game), while Carolina had ranked 29th in rush defense (139.4 yards per game allowed). However, the Panthers held the Colts to 78 yards rushing and 2.6 yards per carry, and playing mistake-free football as they had each of the two weeks prior should lead to Carolina’s first road cover (0-4 ATS) of the season.

Not intended for use in MA
Affiliate Disclosure: Sportsbook Review may receive advertising commissions for visits to a sportsbook

Panthers vs. Bears best odds

Panthers backers have their choice of three of our best sports betting apps for the best number (three points and the hook) and the standard price of -110. If we got less than a field goal, we would likely take the moneyline and eschew the point spread odds. However, at anything more than a field goal, taking the points provides the best insurance. We are making this play as we expect positive regression out of the Panthers starting this week, as they are the only team in the NFL not to have covered multiple games this season (1-6-1 ATS, 0-4 ATS on the road).

Panthers vs. Bears odds for Thursday Night Football

DraftKings, FanDuel, and bet365 have seen the most significant line movement, opening at -2.5 and getting bet quickly to -3, but the line still pushed through the key number overnight into Monday morning. BetMGM and Caesars opened at -3 but still moved off the key number to -3.5. This line still has plenty of room to fluctuate based on Justin Fields’ availability, but now, 65% of early wagers have backed the favorites.

Our best sports betting sites are split between an O/U of 40 and 40.5 points. FanDuel has seen its line bet down from 40.5 to 40, while DraftKings initially increased its number from 40 to 40.5 before returning to its original number. Overs are 16-10 in Bears games under head coach Matt Eberflus, which, entering last week, was the highest Over percentage of any team during the previous two seasons. There has been dead-even two-way action on the total thus far.