You could hear the disdain for this football game in Al Michaels' voice a week ago. Each time he was ordered to read a promo for Bears vs. Commanders, his heart sunk just a little bit.

If the NFL had assigned all of the analytics gurus employed by its teams to attempt to find a game with the potential to be less aesthetically pleasing than last week's Thursday night debacle between the Colts and Broncos, their supercomputers may well have settled on this contest in Chicago. If you have zero expectations for entertainment value, my friends, then you can't be let down. Please keep that in mind while we brace ourselves for this inevitable football slog. And, above all else, let's find a way to prosper despite it.

I cannot tell a lie. This is far from one of my favorite plays in Week 6. Not close. Do I hate it? No. Do I love it? Hell no. I do believe there are some margins we can take advantage of, and we have been on a nice prime time roll lately, so let's try to make the best of a bad situation here and make some judicious plays.

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Spread: Bears (PK)

I suppose I will flip a coin and play the home team in this pick 'em. The Bears have been decent at home, albeit in just two games. And while Carson Wentz has been Mr. Thursday Night – 6-0 in his career- the fact that his head coach threw him under the bus this week, than ran him over a time or two more for good measure, gives me some pause. The Bears defense is getting better each week, Ron Rivera's defense has yielded the most rushing yards in the NFL to quarterbacks since he took over in Washington, and Justin Fields can obviously take off at any time. There is some bad juju around the Commanders right now. They've lost four in a row against the spread and I think they are getting a little sick of their coach's ramblings, to say nothing of their coordinators' deficiencies.

Total: Under 38

Washington has gone Under in three straight games (all with 38 total points scored or less) and these teams are 6-4 to the Under on the year. Since Week 1, the Commanders have averaged 15.5 points per game and the Bears 17 per game. Both coaches want to sit back and play zone defense and be risk-averse. Both sides are in the bottom eight in the NFL in first-half scoring. Their game scripts aren't special and the offensive talent on both sides is far from special. Carson Wentz is uncorking some big plays – more on that later – and he has been good in prime time in his career, but, again, his coach just railroaded him and he is employed by people bereft of ideas and creativity. Add in the offensive line issues with both of these clubs, and I have to embrace the Under.

First Half Total: Under 19

Did I mention how these teams don't do a damn thing in the first quarter? I don't see either putting on an early show here. These coaches don't play to win, they play to not lose. There aren't enough playmakers on the field to alter that sort of game flow in my estimation.

Prop: Bears Field Goal Attempt on Opening Drive (+460)

For all of their offensive warts -- and barely throwing the ball at all or really throwing it downfield certainly counts as a wart -- Chicago has started games well. The Bears have a touchdown and three straight field goals on their opening drives over the last four weeks. As I mentioned, they have been good at home and I don't see their rookie coach getting cute in the red zone or near the goal line if they are in position to kick their way to some points on the first possession. With this much value on the board, against a defense that has struggled like Washington's, in a game in which I don't expect all that much to happen, I like this bet.

Same Game Parlay (+590)

• Justin Fields INT
• Carson Wentz INT
• Cairo Santos Over 6.5 points

Player Props

Terry McLaurin Over 50.5 Yards (-115)

McLaurin has topped this number in four of five games this season – against everyone but Dallas. Wentz has completed more passes of 25 yards or more than any other quarterback. There will be an effort made to feed by far the top playmaker on this offense and while the Bears are top 10 in passing yards allowed per game, part of that is due to game flow. They are just 22nd in net yards allowed per pass. 

David Montgomery Under 61.5 Rushing Yards (-115)

He has topped 26 rushing yards just once this year, in a game against the Packers in which he ran for 122. But Washington has been much better against the run over the last three weeks. It held Miles Sanders to just 46 yards after he gashed them in the past. The Commanders' biggest issue is actually stopping running QBs (though Jalen Hurts mustered only 20 yards on nine carries a few weeks back). Even Derrick Henry averaged just 3.6 yards per carry against them in a tight game last week. With Fields attempting the fewest passes through five games since the 1982 Packers, and Darrell Mooney leading Chicago with 10 catches all season, no way do the Commanders can let Montgomery get going.

Justin Fields Over 41.5 Rushing Yards (-104)

I see Fields breaking off at least one long run. I mentioned Rivera's issues containing running QBs, and unlike that game against Hurts, I expect the Bears to lean into designed runs for Fields even more.

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