Why Dan picked the Bears: Injuries could catch up to New England. We saw in Green Bay that the Bears’ defense is susceptible to the aerial attack, but Drake Maye — while red hot in the last two and a half games — will be without his leading receiver (Romeo Doubs), and A.J. Brown appears to be far from top form after his drop-plagued return from injury last week. On the offensive line, the Patriots are down to their third-string right guard and second-string left guard. Also, they’ll be without starting CB Carlton Davis III for the third straight contest. The Bears will be missing a big part of their offense, too, with Kyle Monangai still sidelined, but they were able to get back to their dominant ways in time of possession without Monangai last week against a run defense that has been stingier than Mike Vrabel’s so far. If the ultra-efficient version of Caleb Williams shows up again, Chicago will be tough to beat. New England is one of the teams good enough to do so, but with the Pats having a short week to prepare for a road game against a fellow contender, I’ll take the home squad.
