Colts vs. Bears Prediction Summary: Who will win and why?

After a loss to the Green Bay Packers that resulted in an 0-2 start for the Colts, Indianapolis will return to home action against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Although we are still in the early stages of a long NFL season that has its ups and downs for every team, recent history suggests that the Colts absolutely must win this game if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.

So, can they get their first win of the season against a 1-1 Bears team? Let's see what the experts say:

ESPN

Of the three ESPN staffers who made their predictions, two picked the Colts and one picked the Bears to win this game. ESPN's Football Power Index model also predicted the Colts would win 52.7 percent of the time, by an average margin of 1.1 points.

Bleacher Report

Of the eight Bleacher Report staff, six have the Bears tipped to win this game. Ultimately, the Colts' leaky run defense and the absence of DeForest Buckner will once again be too much for them.

Professional football talk

Both Mike Florio and Chris Simms have picked the Colts in this game. In short, neither of them has any confidence in the Bears offense right now. On the ground, the Bears rank 29th at 3.5 yards per run and last in passing yards per game at 99.0.

NFL.com

Three of NFL.com's staff picked the Bears to win, while two others picked the Colts. One of them was Dan Parr, who picked the Bears and mentioned the Colts' problems in the running game.

The athlete

Ten members of The Athletic's football team have given their picks, and fittingly, five have chosen the Bears and five have chosen the Colts. That seems to be the general consensus on many of these predictions. As mentioned, the winner of the matchup between the Colts' defensive line and the Bears' offensive line could ultimately determine the winner of the game.