The New York Giants, now all but confirmed to finish at the bottom of the NFC East, need to salvage something from a disappointing year. With the regular season drawing to a close, let’s take a look at the New York Giants vs. Chicago Bears Week 17 matchup, glance at the NFL odds, and make a pick and prediction.
New York Giants vs. Chicago Bears pick, prediction | Week 17
- Spread: Bears -6.5 (Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook)
- Moneyline: Bears -265, Giants +215
- Over/Under: 37.5
The Giants gave second-year QB Jake Fromm the start on Sunday in an attempt to see what he could do before the offseason hits. New York has some decisions to make around the position, and a solid performance from Fromm — who was signed off of the Bills’ practice squad a month ago — might have given them something to build a case around.
[bet-promo id=”160605″ ]As it transpired, Fromm was pulled for the game for Mike Glennon, and there continues to be little to look forward to for the Giants. It’s been a poor season, and right now, New York’s only saving grace is having two top-10 draft picks this coming offseason.
Of course, one of those draft choices originally belonged to the Chicago Bears, who also find themselves in turmoil as the curtains begin to close on the regular season.
The penultimate dance for Matt Nagy?
With only two games left in the regular season, the feeling is growing stronger with each passing week that Matt Nagy will no longer be the head coach of the Bears in 2022. His position has been under scrutiny all year, and the noise is only getting louder.
Had it not been for a jump ball to Jimmy Graham in the final moments of Week 16’s game against the Seahawks (and an accompanying 2-point conversion to Damiere Byrd), the Bears would have lost again. That would have meant nine losses in their last 10 games.
Having invested significant draft capital in Justin Fields, the Bears want to give him the best possible chance to succeed. But given the current coaching staff and overall state of the roster, that is not going to be easy. Changes must be made — but first, Chicago needs to finish the season strong, starting with the Giants on Sunday.
We’re yet to find out how healthy Fields is ahead of Sunday’s game, and it may well be Nick Foles again should Fields not be ready to go.
Giants vs. Bears betting trends
The Giants have covered the spread once in the last six weeks. Despite the spreads growing in their favor, they’re still unable to cover. As an 11.5-point underdog against the Cowboys in Week 15, and an 11-point undergo against the Eagles in Week 16, New York lost both badly. The Giants have also only covered two overs in the last nine weeks, putting them at 5-9-1 for overs on the season.
The Bears’ cover against the Seahawks in Week 16 is only their second in their last 10 games. Their only other cover came in a 29-27 loss to the Steelers. Chicago is 5-10 against the spread for the season. However, they have covered three overs in their last four games.
Giants vs. Bears prediction
This is an ugly one. Neither of these teams is performing at a high level right now. They’re both due for some major changes, and neither knows who’s playing at quarterback week to week. We don’t yet know if we’ll see Fromm or Glennon for the Giants, and it could still be Foles for the Bears.
Quite honestly, I’m stumped here. How does one choose one of these two teams to win a football game right now? I’ll make my pick based on who is less likely to lose the game. The Bears have a woeful -13 turnover differential. The Giants are at least more capable of forcing a turnover, so I’ll take New York with the spread.
37.5 is about as low as an over/under total gets, but I still think these two will come in underneath it.
Giants vs. Bears Prediction: Giants 17, Bears 13