The NFL returns for week 3 of the season with he reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Chicago Bears at the Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs have opened the season by going 1-1 after a shock loss in the opening game of the season as Patrick Mahomes struggled to find his excellent 2022 form early on, while the Bears are 0-2 and in search of their first win of the season after some relatively poor performances.
We’ll take a look at the game and provide you with the best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action from your couch.
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As reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs stepped into the 2023 season with a trip to face off with the Detroit Lions, with many expecting a rout.
But Detroit shocked the world with a come-from-behind victory, having been 14-7 down at half-time but ending the game with a huge 21-20 win, dropping a touchdown in all of the first, third and fourth quarters.
Kansas bounced back in week 2 though against the Jacksonville Jaguars, putting in a solid display of defensive strength and efficient offense to claim a 17-9 win and get back on track of their championship defense. It was a slow start though with a scoreless first quarter, before they hit a touchdown in the second and third quarter.
The Bears on the other hand have had a horrid start to the season with consecutive defeats to open their NFL campaign.
Chicago faced off against the Green Bay Packers in week 1 and never held the lead at the end of any quarter as they fell to a 38-20 defeat, conceding 13 points in both the third quarter and fourth quarter.
They then hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 2 and fell to another heavy defeat, as their first-quarter lead came to nothing with a final score of 27-17 after conceding ten points in the second quarter, seven in the third quarter and seven in the fourth quarter.
Since the start of the 2022 season, Kansas City is just 3-6-1 ATS as home favorites and 8-12-1 overall on the line through the Super Bowl. But this looks set up for them to finally explode.
The Chiefs sputtered early against the Jaguars before nailing an ugly 17-9 win in Week 2. Patrick Mahomes II and Travis Kelce should be fully back to 2022 form, and that only be a bad thing for the Bears as they travel to the Arrowhead Stadium.
Justin Fields and the Bears offense have stayed in hibernation from last year and they haven’t shown any signs of waking up yet. The Bears have been awful on both sides of the ball through two games, and they were both winnable matches against the Packers and Buccaneers.
The Bears have failed to cover nine of their last 11 games as double-digit underdogs, and now come up against Kansas who are many people’s favorites to go all the way again.
We know what the Kansas City Chiefs are capable of when in good form, and they’re going to only get better with Kelce and Chris Jones back. It’s a massive, massive line, especially for this early in the season, but there’s quite a gap between the Bears and Chiefs and if Mahomes is on song it could get messy.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
So far this season the Chiefs haven’t been scoring as freely as their roster suggests they should be, but this could be the game that sees them finally explode into life.
But during pre-season, all three of their games were high-scoring games that would have seen this ticket cash, and the Bears are a team that are no better than anyone they faced in pre-season.
The Bears have conceded 65 points in their first two games of the season, averaging out at 32.5 points per game. That would mean if that is able to be maintained, then you’d only need another 15 points in the game from either team.
Chicago have scored 20 and 17 points in their two games so far, while Kansas have scored 17 and 20 in their respective games too. The points are there and the likelihood is that Kansas find their form which means they could really run riot.
It won’t be easy, but the overs seems to be the best value for this bet.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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