“Thursday Night Football” returns this week with a matchup between two struggling teams undergoing significant talent transitions. 

Let’s analyze the game and make three DFS selections on PrizePicks.

Bryce Young is coming off a brutal game against the Colts in which he threw three interceptions. With all of the buzz around C.J. Stroud and Will Levis, many are down on the 2023 No. 1 overall pick. 

But we’re only nine weeks into his first season, and while the growing pains have been significant, he’ll have a great opportunity to bounce back tonight at Soldier Field against the Bears.

And if Young is to have success, he’ll need to continue peppering his favorite receiver with targets.

As Thielen goes, so does Young.

Chicago applies the least amount of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and Thielen has been notorious throughout his career for carving up zone defenses. 

The Bears play the most Cover 2 in the NFL, and Thielen owns a 31% first-read percentage against Cover 2 this season – good for 16th-best among all qualifying receivers. 

Seems like a get-right opportunity for the veteran receiver who had just 29 receiving yards last week but has crossed this number in four of his last six games. 

As bad as both of these teams are, it should be an ugly-competitive game. 

In terms of allowing opponent touchdowns in the red zone this season, Carolina and Chicago own the two worst defenses in the NFL.

However, I don’t trust either offense to finish drives when it matters with two rookie quarterbacks under center.

There aren’t many winnable games on the schedule for either one of these teams, but this is one of them.

As much as everyone wants bad teams to tank for a high draft pick, these coaches and players are still playing for their respective jobs. 

I think Chicago should take points whenever it has the opportunity, and I like them to get into scoring position, but ultimately coming up short when it matters. 

It seems reasonable to expect Santos to split the yellow poles twice.

This number seems low, but there are reasons to believe Hubbard won’t get there on Thursday night. 

The Bears are awful at just about everything, but they can stop the run.

In fact, Chicago owns the second-best rate at defensive adjusted rushing yards before contact, meaning opposing running backs are finding no room before getting hit.

Hubbard was considered to be the Panthers’ lead running back the last two games, but while Miles Sanders played only 20% of the snaps two weeks ago, that number crept up to 25% last week. 

He could get a little more work tonight if Hubbard struggles and this game gets competitive.

Coach Frank Reich might be forced to ride the hot hand a bit more.