Keagan Smith takes you through his preview, prediction, and pick for NFL Week 9’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The NFL regular season reaches the halfway point on Sunday as a potential offensive shootout takes place during the witching hour. The Chicago Bears are above .500 with a real chance to add a much-needed win this week against a Cincinnati Bengals squad that boasts a potent offense but a porous defense. Which side comes out on top between the two?

Here’s a Bengals vs. Bears prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Week 9.

Bengals vs. Bears prediction, preview

Looking at these two sides, a 4-3 record for the Bears and 3-5 campaign for the Bengals don’t inspire feelings of awe, nor do they make you feel like you’re in for a great football game. However, this shapes up as one of the most bet-able contests of Week 9 as both teams deploy high-upside offenses with little defensive support behind them.

Chicago sees offensive guru Ben Johnson continue working to implement his new scheme with a litany of weapons between Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, and Colston Loveland all healthy. While D’Andre Swift and Luther Burden have been ruled out, Caleb Williams is the X-factor to take advantage of a poor defense and make this offense hum. The Bears average 24.0 points and 350.1 yards per game while converting third downs at the ninth-best rate, and they’re 10th in both rushing and passing yards per contest. Defensively, Chicago gives up an average of 26.4 points and 250.7 yards while ranking 27th against the run and 13th against the pass. The Bears also fall 29th in opponent touchdowns per game at 3.1.

Meanwhile, the Bengals are working to salvage their campaign after the early season injury to Joe Burrow and questionable play from Jake Browning that dug a hole in the W/L column. Joe Flacco has revived this offense ever since, but he’s dealing with an AC joint issue and his status remains up in the air. Even if he does play, it’s unknown whether he’ll stay in the game for a full four quarters. Still, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown form a very talented offensive trio, so Flacco has weapons to work with. The Bengals average 21.8 points and 284.9 yards per contest, but they’ve put up 29.7 points with Flacco at the helm and they will surely air the ball out plenty in this one. On the other side of the ball, Cincinnati ranks dead-last in points (31.6) and yards per game (407.9) while also allowing a league-worst 6.2 yards per play and 3.9 touchdowns per contest.

Bengals vs. Bears pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Bears as -2.5 favorites with -148 odds on the Moneyline. The Bengals are listed at +124 odds to win on the Moneyline with the game total set at 51.5 combined points, one of this slate’s highest.

Where the Texans vs. Broncos game shapes up as a couple of stoppable forces meeting immovable objects in a pair of elite defenses, this Bengals vs. Bears matchup becomes the complete opposite. When they’re clicking, these offenses hurtle toward opponents at the speed of light and are incredibly difficult to stop, whereas both defenses are paper-thin and may break with even the slightest pressure. Again, this looks like one of the most bet-worthy games on the slate with plenty of potential for player props to hit. The Bears do have the upper hand with a slightly better defense, but it’s TBD whether Kyle Monangai can fill the shoes of a resurgent Swift to keep this run game moving. Williams also needs to play a more consistent game than he has most weeks, but if there’s any team for him to get back into the swing of things against, it’s this Bengals defense.

This could become a close game, so betting the spread doesn’t quite feel right. While the total is high, I’m still comfortable taking the over and hoping Flacco can stay in the game to set off plenty of offensive fireworks.

Best bet: Over 51.5 points (-110)