Isn’t it nice how smoothly the MLB World Series dovetails in so well with the NFL schedule?  Almost like someone set it up that way.  No conflicts, no overlaps.  Sports fans get to enjoy all of the action from both professional sports leagues.

Tonight will see Monday Night Football, with the MLB World Series taking a break and returning tomorrow and, possibly, Wednesday.

Bears, Rams Meet On Monday Night

The Chicago Bears are currently 5-1 after incurring their only loss of the season to the Indianapolis Colts back on October 4.  They beat the Detroit Lions, the New York Giants and the Atlanta Falcons back to back.  After losing to the Colts, they scored an impressive victory over Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Last week, they were victorious over Teddy Bridgewater and the Carolina Panthers.

Only one game separates the four teams in the NFC West.  The Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers, the Rams and even the Arizona Cardinals are having winning seasons and are aiming at making the playoffs.  The Cardinals and the Seahawks treated NFL fans to what was perhaps the best game of the day on Sunday evening in a thriller that had to go into overtime before Arizona, behind the antics of Kyler Murray, finally pulled off a 37-34 victory over Seattle.

After the Cardinals beat the Seahawks, the Bears found themselves on top of the NFC, and now they must defend that position starting with the Los Angeles Rams on the road, on Monday Night Football, on national TV.

Bears Can Taste Victory

The big game on Monday Night Football this week will present an opportunity for the Bears’ outstanding defensive back Khalil Mack to redeem himself for what some have seen as lackluster play since coming over from the Raiders.  On the other side of the field, the Rams have the ever dangerous Aaron Donald, and it will be interesting to see if one of these guys, both with reputations for being awesome on defense, can dominate the game on Monday night.

Currently, the Bears are the only team in the NFC with a chance to go to 6-1 and lead the division if they can manage to beat the Rams, who, on paper at least, do not appear to be all that together as a football team as yet.  Jared Goff has shown some really great moves on the field and his potential is off the charts, but the Rams just have not gelled as a team so far this year.

The Bears appear to have moved onward from Mitchell Trubisky, who, now in his fourth NFL season, just has not shown himself to be capable of running an NFL team as quarterback.  So, the Bears have fallen back on journeyman quarterback Nick Foles who has proven his value in the past with the Philadelphia Eagles, among others.  Foles may not be a great NFL quarterback, but he is a damned good one and players seem to respond well to him wherever he has gone.  His little jokes about ‘winning ugly’ are just his way of saying that the Bears still have a ways to go yet, and should not get cocky.  But they do have a realistic chance to make the playoffs, and, of course, anything can happen then.

Bears Are Dogs Against Rams

The Bears, when listed as the underdog, are 4-1 against the spread and 3-0 ATS on the road in 2020.  They own a 7-3 record ATS since 2018 and Bears head coach Matt Nagy likes to be ready for primetime TV games.   So, why are they 6-point dogs against the LA Rams at SoFi stadium tonight?  We will find out this evening when the Rams host the Bears.  At 4 wins and 2 losses, to the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams just do not look all that hot.

While the spread, with the Rams at -6, has been steady since posting the Over/Under, which started at 47 has now worked its way down to 44.5 and smart money is still sticking with the under.  Both teams have better defenses than they have offenses, hence the Under.