The New York Jets and Chicago Bears are both 1-1 coming into their Week 3 Monday night game, but are trending opposite ways. The Bears bounced back from a surprise opening week loss to the Buffalo Bills to take down the powerful San Francisco 49ers last Sunday night. The Jets, meanwhile, blew an 18-point lead on the road in Green Bay, thanks in part to an inopportune timeout that wiped out a late tying touchdown.
NFL picks and predictions, Bears vs. Jets 2014: Experts going with Chicago
A big Week 2 win over San Francisco leaves the Bears as a hot pick to to take a game on the road.
OddsShark lists the Jets as 2.5-point favorites, but the majority of experts are leaning toward Chicago. Eleven of ESPN’s 13 panelists are going with the Bears (Mike Ditka included, unsurprisingly), and five of CBS’ eight panelists agree. Not included in that number is CBS senior columnist Pete Prisco, who has the Jets winning 20-17.
“Playing consecutive road games is tough to do in the NFL, and that’s what the Bears are doing here,” Prisco writes. “The Jets did some good things last week at Green Bay to keep it close. I think they will win a tight one here -- unless somebody calls a bad timeout.”
The guys at Fox Sports are a bit more indecisive -- four experts chose the Bears, and three went with Jets.
Here’s how SB Nation’s panel sees it going:
| Week 2 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | PFT Commenter | Matt Ufford |
| CHI vs. NYJ | CHI | NYJ | CHI | NYJ | CHI | CHI | CHI |
The Jets showed some positives against Green Bay last week, but struggled to contain Jordy Nelson and the passing game. Unless the secondary can make quick strides, it's hard to imagine them faring much better against Brandon Marshall, assuming he's healthy, and the Bears' attack. And before you go off talking about how Chicago's banged-up offensive line will be a problem, remember that the Packers were missing two starters on their own line last week.
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