How bad are the Bears? Sad-sack Broncos are favored to beat them on the road
The Denver Broncos have had a rough start to the season. Yes, that's being kind.
The Broncos are 0-3. They just became the second defense ever to give up 700 yards in a game. Nobody had pulled that off since 1951. They allowed 70 points as well. Just about any NFL power rankings will have the Broncos at No. 31. Denver hasn't been relevant since Peyton Manning retired and this won't be the year the streak ends.
And with all of that swirling around the Broncos, at least they aren't the Chicago Bears.
How big of a gap is there between the worst team in the NFL and the second-worst team? We can quantify it this week. The Broncos and Bears play on Sunday in the worst game of the NFL season. And the Broncos are a pretty significant favorite. On the road.
Broncos more than a field goal favorite
Denver is a 3.5-point favorite at BetMGM over the Bears. Let's put that in some perspective.
Let's assume 2.5 points for home-field advantage. The standard used to be three points for home field, but that has come down to less than a field goal. If 2.5 points is accurate, that means if this game was on a neutral field the Broncos would be -6. If it was in Denver, the Broncos would be an 8.5-point favorite. There are only two NFL point spreads this week that are higher than 8.5. The 0-3 Broncos are tied for the second biggest road favorite of Week 4.
It's stunning that the Broncos — an 0-3 team that is the consensus second-worst team in the NFL, which just gave up 70 points in a game and lost by 50 — would probably be favored by more than a touchdown over the Bears if the game happened in Denver. It's not like the Broncos are any good. The Bears are just that bad.
It seems safe to speculate that the Bears won't be favored in another game the rest of the season. If the Broncos are laying more than a field goal against you in Chicago, it's a sign. It's probably time for Caleb Williams to start looking at houses in the Chicagoland area.
Bears have flopped early this season
The Bears weren't expected to be bad. Their win total of 7.5 was respectable. The Arizona Cardinals' win total went all the way down to 3.5 before the start of the season. It took just three weeks for the Bears to flip that.
Last week seemed like rock bottom, even for a team that earned the first overall pick of the 2023 draft. Quarterback Justin Fields said some controversial things, the coaching staff was criticized, defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned suddenly and then the Bears got embarrassed on the field by the Kansas City Chiefs. They trailed 34-0 at halftime. Had the Chiefs really wanted to run it up, they might have challenged 70 points, too.
The NFL's best game of the regular season is debatable. It could be the Miami Dolphins-Buffalo Bills game we get on Sunday. There are other candidates. But the NFL's worst game isn't in much doubt. At least the Bears or Broncos will come out of Sunday with a win. Unless they tie.
