NFL Week 7 ‘Monday Night Football’ game picks and predictions

Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season is almost entirely behind us—save tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup—and unfortunately it was one of the more dull weeks thus far. There were a handful of fun games that ultimately ended in blowouts, like the New Orleans Saints falling to the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Chargers losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks, and the Kansas City Chiefs putting 44 points on the San Francisco 49ers.

To wrap up this week, we’re once again forced to watch a bad big market team in primetime. The Chicago Bears (2-4) are making their third appearance in a primetime game in just the first seven weeks of the season (how? why?) as they travel to face the resurgent New England Patriots (3-3). There isn’t much intrigue with the Bears, but the Patriots are somehow mildly interesting. New England managed to find a spark on offense thanks to rookie QB Bailey Zappe filling in for an injured Mac Jones, but it sounds like Jones could return to the lineup tonight.

Let’s get right to tonight’s picks, which I’ll be making on a straight moneyline (aka picking the winner) basis. I’ll still provide the information on the spread and over/under, for those interested. At the bottom, I’ll show the rest of the staff’s picks for the game.

All odds are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook and are subject to change. See the current odds here.

Monday Night Football: Chicago Bears (2-4) at New England Patriots (3-3)

The pick: Patriots (-350)

Spread: Patriots -8 | Over/Under: 40 | Moneyline: Patriots -350, Bears +290

I don’t know if stuffing the schedule with bad primetime games early in the season was intentional or just a bad turn of events, but this has been a rough opening stretch. Things don’t look to get much better on Monday Night Football this week, as the hapless Bears offense is set to take on one of the NFL’s ascending defenses in the Patriots. Whether it’s Mac Jones making his return or rookie Bailey Zappe at quarterback, New England is a heavy favorite for a reason. I’ve got no faith in Chicago outfoxing Belichick’s defense.

Staff picks

What are your picks and predictions for tonight’s Monday Night Football matchups?

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.