What a strange world we're living in. Le s than three weeks ago, the had under team control for three more years and the were entering the 2018 season . But on Sept. 1, and just like that, a 27-year-old generational pa s rusher was switching teams in a league that is inherently designed to prevent 27-year-old generational superstars from switching teams. As a result, the Chicago Bears are 1-1 after the first two weeks of the season ( if not for the sorcery of ), which marks the first time since Week 6 of the 2014 season that they're at .500, and they're entering their Week 3 contest against the as six-point ROAD favorites. , because I'm taking the Bears, on the road, against the Cardinals, to cover. More Best Bets About that Mack acquisition. Since joining the Bears, even though he's hardly in complete game-shape, which is preventing him from continuing his first-half explosions deep into the second half, by racking up two sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, Ronnie Stanley Jersey and a pick-six while setting up his teammates for countle s other sacks due to the attention he draws. The Monsters of the Midway lead the league in sacks with 10. Eight different players have contributed to the cause. Mack makes everyone better. , an incredible force, is suddenly the second source of pre sure opposing defenses have to worry about. , who has always boasted elite pa s rusher potential, is now the third option. And so on. It's all because of Mack, who joined a defense that was already pretty good to begin with. His arrival turned them into a legitimate monster. Six sacks.One interception (Pick-6).The BEST PLAYS by the defense in Week 2! NFL (@NFL) This Bears defense is going to have its way against the Cardinals, a team that's scored six Trace McSorley Jersey total points to this point in the season. For context, consider the Bears' defense has scored two touchdowns entirely on their own. Which means, yes, the Bears' defense is outscoring the Cardinals' offense this season. Picking the Bears to win a road game by more than six points isn't easy. Their offense remains a work in progre s, with second-year quarterback slowly developing in a new offense with new playmakers around him. But that defense, oh that defense. That defense is good enough to stymie the Cardinals, who are still starting . Checking in on Josh Rosen... CBS Sports (@CBSSports) With the first of my best bets this week, I'm taking the Bears. So long as it avoids injuries, the defense should continue to improve because Mack and Roquan Smith (who mi sed all of training camp) aren't even in total game-shape yet. But I'm also expecting the offense to take a step forward this week. Trubisky is actually completing a high percentage of his pa ses (just under 70 percent), but he's mi sing the easy downfield throws that Matt Nagy has drawn up. The Bears' offense just needs to take a marginal step forward for them to beat the Cardinals by more than a touchdown. What a weird world we're living in. The .500 Bears are favored by six points on the road. I'm taking them. And I don't feel horrible about it. Last week: 4-1This year: 8-2 Bears (-6) at Cardinals See above. But to make one final point, the Bears have scored more points on their opening drives this year than the Cardinals have scored all year long. Bears opening drives this year:10 plays, 86 yards, TD9 plays, 96 yards, TD Sean Wagner-McGough (@seanjwagner) For the Cardinals to beat the Bears, they'll need to get superstar more involved. Johnson's the most versatile offensive player in football, because he's a running back who's actually capable of running the kind of routes that receivers run. He entered the season with insane ambitions -- -- but he's totaled 118 yards and one touchdown from scrimmage so far. The Cardinals are Why it took them this long to figure that out is beyond me. (-16 Brandon Carr Jersey .5) vs. That's how bad the Bills are. They lost to the by 44 points at home with . With rookie , they lost to the by 11 points at home. Now, they have to go into hostile Minnesota to take on a legitimate contender. It's going to be a bloodbath. The Bills' offensive line, which is ranked second to last in pa s protection , isn't going to be able to protect Allen against arguably the league's most complete defense. There will be sacks. And there will be wildly errant pa ses that the Vikings will have a chance to snag. Meanwhile, the Bills' only quality skill-position player, , might Vikings, one of the league's best teams, blow out the Bills, the worst team in football. (+3) at The Saints were my Super Bowl pick before the season, and they've spent the first two weeks making me regret it. They got torn up by FitzTragicMagic and the at home in Week 1 and then would' Michael Pierce Jersey ve lost to the Browns at home if the had any semblance of competency. Except, in my picks last week, I declared that I was done betting on the Falcons. That didn't work so well for me when the Falcons beat the by seven, but the Saints are getting three points here. I think they're the better team. And I think they're going to make the Falcons feel the absences of safety and linebacker , two guys who are tasked with tracking down running backs coming out of the backfield. The Saints have . Close game, but Saints pull out a win. The Falcons are just at (over 56.5) Hell, the Chiefs might score 57 points entirely on their own. I've made it no secret that I've fallen head over heels for , who is everything I've ever wanted in a quarterback operating in an offense that looks like the one I try to run in "Madden," except the Chiefs have managed to Kenneth Dixon Jersey run that offense better in real life than I do in a video-game. Mahomes is on pace for 80 touchdown pa ses, by the way. He won't get to 80, obviously, but this isn't the game that regre sion shows up. And then there's the fact that the Chiefs' defense stinks. I might just start taking the over in every Chiefs game regardle s of who they're playing. This week, they get the 49ers at home. I'm admittedly pretty low on the 49ers, because I don't see what everyone else sees in . But expect Kyle Shanahan to scheme up some easy throws and easy points against a bad defense. If you like points, this will be a fun one to watch. (-3) vs. Raiders The Raiders just traveled to Denver. Now, they have to fly acro s the country to Miami. Back to back road games is never easy. Back to back road games for a bad team like the Raiders is even harder. Don't look now, but the Dolphins are doing what they did during Adam Gase's first season with in 2016: winning close games. The Dolphins have opened up their season with two straight wins during which they've outscored their competition by 15 total points. Strangely, the Dolphins are That probably won't last, but what's important about this matchup is that struggles against pre sure and the Dolphins have defensive end . Oh, and by the way, in 15 games with Gase, Tannehilll ha