2. Chuba Hubbard under 40.5 rushing yards against the Chicago Bears
Chuba Hubbard has gone over this total four times this year, and he has hit the over in two of the last three games. However, there is a strong reason to believe that he goes under on Thursday. First, he may start to lose his work.
In the first five weeks of the season, Hubbard was playing 42% of the snaps and had just 29% of the rushing attempts. Then, Miles Sanders got hurt and missed week six. Since then, Hubbard has played 69% of the snaps and has handled 72% of the rushing attempts. If he gets that against Chicago, it may go over, but there is reason to think that will not happen.
Miles Sanders returned after the bye in week eight, but it was clear the team wanted to ease him back in. He saw 20% of the snaps and handled 10% of the rushing work. However, the following week he had 25% of the snaps and 26% of the rushing attempts. He is ascending and will take the job back soon. Thursday should be a split.
So, Hubbard is losing carries, and now he gets a Bears defense that ranks 4th in success rate allowed to running backs. For comparison, the Panthers recently played the Colts, who rank 25th, the Texans, who rank 9th, the Dolphins at 28th, the Lions at 20th, and the Vikings at 21st. Hubbard ran fine against Indianapolis, Miami, and Minnesota. However, he had 15 rushes for 28 yards against the Texans. Now, the Bears rush defense should be better. Hubbard should go under.