{"id":237789,"date":"2025-10-24T14:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237789\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:50:08","slug":"nfl-experts-make-stunning-pick-in-bears-vs-ravens-week-8-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237789\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL experts make stunning pick in Bears vs. Ravens Week 8 matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears are one of the hottest teams in the NFL entering Week 8. Winners of four-straight games and riding a scorching running game, the Bears are suddenly very relevant in the NFC North and conference playoff picture.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite their winning streak and all that’s gone Chicago’s way in recent weeks, they still aren’t over the hump in the eyes of league experts.<\/p>\n

Week 8’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens would traditionally be viewed as a lopsided mismatch. The Bears of recent history could never compete with Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the cast of John Harbaugh’s characters.<\/p>\n

But 2025 is very different. Jackson’s status for the game (hamstring) is still up in the air, and the Ravens — who’ve been demolished by injury<\/a> on defense — sport a horrendous 1-5 record.<\/p>\n

It’s do-or-die time for the Ravens. Another loss, and any hope for a playoff berth will vanish.<\/p>\n

\"Chicago<\/p>\n

Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s why those NFL experts are still all-in on the Ravens (for the most part). According to NFL Pick Watch<\/a>, 67% of experts polled selected Baltimore to win the game.<\/p>\n

It’s a tough pill for Bears fans to swallow. <\/p>\n

Chicago ranks better than Baltimore in nearly every category. Here’s a quick breakdown:<\/p>\n

Scoring offense: Bears (10th), Ravens (16th)<\/p>\n

Passing offense: Bears (14th), Ravens (28th)<\/p>\n

Rushing offense: Bears (8th), Ravens (10th)<\/p>\n

Scoring defense: Bears (25th), Ravens (32nd)<\/p>\n

Pass defense: Bears (17th), Ravens (28th)<\/p>\n

Run Defense: Bears (28th), Ravens (26th)<\/p>\n

With the exception of run defense (and it’s really close), the Chicago Bears have nearly a clean sweep over the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

But there’s that whole Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry duo that’s hard to bet against.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

David Banks-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“Listen, it’s a good team,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said this week. “Their record really doesn’t indicate what they are capable of doing. They can put up points in bunches and this defense is always, since (John) Harbaugh has been there, has always found a way to respond. So, even last year when they didn’t start off hot they came back and they finished the season real strong. I know coming off a bye week here, they’ll be fresh, they’ll be rested, they’ll be ripping and roaring, ready to go.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Ravens aren’t what you’d think most 1-5 teams should be. They’re loaded with talent; it’s just injured talent at this point.<\/p>\n

The Bears and Ravens will kick off at 12 Noon (CT) on Sunday October 26 in Baltimore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears are one of the hottest teams in the NFL entering Week 8. Winners of four-straight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-237789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}