Monday Night Football: Bears vs Steelers Week 9 Odds and Preview

Sunday’s bundle of Week 9 NFL games are officially in the books, meaning that fans are now turning their attention to an exciting Monday Night Football contest. This week’s game is an inter-conference matchup as the Chicago Bears (3-5) take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3). Both teams will be looking to improve their spots in the standings with a victory tonight, which should make for some entertaining football action.

There’s a lot to take account of before tonight’s Monday Night Football clash, so continue reading this guide for the betting odds heading into the matchup — with odds courtesy of BetOnline.

Bears vs Steelers General Information and Statistics

Tonight’s game will be held at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the Steelers currently have a home record of 2-2. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. EST and the contest itself can be viewed on ESPN and other streaming platforms around the world.

The Bears are currently averaging 15.4 points per game, which is the second-worst average in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Steelers are averaging 18.9 PPG — the seventh-worst average. Defensively, Chicago is allowing 24.4 PPG (T-21st) while Pittsburgh is surrendering 20.3 PPG (7th).

Monday Night Football: Bears vs Steelers Odds

Odds via BetOnline as of Monday, November 8

  • Chicago Bears (3-5) vs Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3)
  • Moneyline: Bears (+260) vs Steelers (-310)
  • Spread: Bears +7.0 (-115) vs Steelers -7.0 (-105)
  • Total: 39.0 — Over (-113), Under (-107)
  • Head-to-Head: The Bears are 3-3 against the Steelers in their last six matchups.

A complete list of odds and prop markets is available at BetOnline.ag.

Bears are Monday Night Underdogs

The Bears will enter Week 9’s Monday Night Football matchup as the +260 underdogs against the Steelers. After a decent 3-2 start to the year, Chicago has lost its last three games in a row, falling to 3-5. Now, the team heads into Pittsburgh with hopes of turning things around.

The first thing that the Bears needs to solve is their offensive troubles. Chicago is averaging just 13.0 PPG during its three-game losing streak. One thing that would be helpful is if Allen Robinson finally had his first breakout game of the year. The 28-year-old wideout has just 26 catches for 271 yards and a touchdown on the season and hasn’t found the end zone since Week 2. Fortunately, the Steelers are giving up 239.7 passing yards per game (14th). With Chicago possibly playing catchup tonight, this could be a good opportunity for Robinson to prove that he still has “it.”

The good news is that the Bears will likely be getting RB David Montgomery back in the lineup for Monday Night Football. His foot injury appears to be healed and he was practicing with the team last week. Head coach Matt Nagy said that there’s a “really good chance” he plays in MNF, so that’s something to watch. Rookie Khalil Herbert has done well in his absence, recording almost 400 total yards from scrimmage in his last four games.

If the Bears can make using both running backs work, they could turn their season around and that all begins with this week’s matchup. These aren’t the elite Steelers of the past, so an upset win isn’t unfathomable.

Monday Night Football: Steelers Looking to Extend Streak

While the Bears enter Monday Night Football with a three-game losing streak, the Steelers have done the opposite, winning their last trio of games. If they want to make it four, they’re going to need to keep playing as they have lately and that starts with Ben Roethlisberger.

The veteran signal-caller has completed 66.7% of his passes during this winning streak for 748 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. In fact, the Steelers are 4-0 this season in games where Roethlisberger doesn’t throw an interception and 0-3 when he does. He also has a 102.6 passer rating during this span and the Pittsburgh offensive line has done a great job at protecting him, allowing him to be sacked just four times.

On the other hand, the Bears actually pose a difficult matchup for Roethlisberger, giving up just 232.5 passing yards per game this season (11th). Keeping that in mind, it could be another Najee Harris-heavy game. The rookie rusher has played a whopping 86% of Pittsburgh’s snaps this season, recording over 750 total yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns so far. Considering that the Bears are giving up the third-most yards during their three-game losing streak (160.3), Harris could be in for the biggest game of his first year.

Unless something massive goes wrong, it’s hard to see the Steelers streak ending tonight.

Devon Platana
Devon Platana

After graduating with a Masters degree in Journalism, Devon joined USGS to improve his sports writing skills. As a lifelong sports fan, one of Devon’s favorite things to do is analyze statistics across all sports.