Week 1 best bets for Sunday afternoon's games

Ahead of the opening weekend slate, sports analysts are eyeing the Chicago Bears laying three points as road favorites with an over/under set at 46.5 against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Ben Johnson's squad enters the contest backed by a solid 12-6-1 record against the spread across the 2025 campaign, including a 5-4 mark in away matchups.

Despite the challenge of spotting points on the road, Chicago's matchup presents distinct schematic advantages against a Carolina defense that ranked third across the league by utilizing zone coverage on 69.5 percent of defensive snaps and paced the NFL in Cover 3 looks.

To exploit those tendencies, the Bears are expected to test interior vacancies using tight end Colston Loveland while calling on Kalif Raymond to push deep coverage backwards, generating throwing lanes for quarterback Caleb Williams to locate targets like Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III. On the ground, Chicago faces an opportunity against a Panthers front that yielded 4.5 yards per carry during the 2025 season.

Through strategic tight end usage, the visitors aim to gain blocking leverage against Carolina's defensive structure to establish their ground attack and control the road contest.

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