Windy City Gridiron
Chicago Bears fans have been eagerly anticipating September 8 since the schedule was released way back on May 14. That’s more than 16 weeks between that date and the Monday Night Football season kickoff tomorrow night, and it’s been 16 weeks full of training camp ups and downs, some quarterback drama sparked from a book, and some franchise drama sparked from a long-form article.
Some real football can’t get here fast enough.
The first game of the Ben Johnson era, in year two of the Caleb Williams era, was always going to be must-see TV, and putting them on prime time with the eyes of the football world watching was like a no-brainer.
Win, lose, or draw, it’ll be nice to talk about the product on the field; however, nothing will erase the off-the-field drama like a win.
Chicago’s week two opponent, the Detroit Lions, played earlier today against the Green Bay Packers, and they did not look like the odds-on favorite to repeat as NFC North champions. The Packers had their way most of the afternoon en route to a 27- 13 win. For some perspective, their 13 points are the fewest they’ve scored since a 28 to 13 loss to the Bears on December 10, 2023. In fact, the Lions, with Ben Johnson as their offensive coordinator (2022-2024), only scored 13 or fewer points four times.
Johnson makes his debut against the Minnesota Vikings tomorrow, but he’ll face his old team next week (September 14) in Detroit, and we have some early odds from our partners at FanDuel Sportsbook. Right now, they have the Bears as a 4.5-point underdog, with the over/under point total at 47.5.
It’s early in the 2025 season, so the outcome of tomorrow night’s game won’t move the line much, unless there’s a blowout one way or the other.
What are your thoughts on the Lions in week one, the new look Packers with Micah Parsons, and the line for next week’s game in Motown?
