The set-up: John Fox came to Denver in 2011 and all he did was lead the Broncos to four consecutive AFC West titles. With the addition of Peyton Manning in 2012, the Broncos owned a 38-10 (.792) record from 2012 through 2014 but the team's failure to win "the big one" got Fox fired. He landed in Chicago for 2015, with the Bears struggling to a 6-10 season. Gary Kubiak became the Houston Texans second-ever head coach in 2006 and in 2011 and 2012 he led that expansion franchise to back-to-back AFC South titles. However, the 2013 season was wrought with injuries and after 11 straight losses, (Houston opened 2-0) Houston fired Kubiak. He was hired by Denver in 2015 after Fox was fired, returning to the team he once played for and the one for which he was an assistant at from 1995 through 2005. All Kubiak did was win another AFC West title going 12-4 and then lead Denver to the franchise's third-ever Super Bowl win.

The game: These two teams met in Week 11 of last season in Chicago, with Denver holding on for a 17-15 win (the Broncos foiled the Bears' two-point try with under 30 seconds left in the contest). They now meet to open their respective 2016 preseason schedules, again at Soldier Field. The Broncos face a number of issues this preseason, playing as the defending Super bowl champs always places a target on that team's back plus unlike last year's preseason, Kubiak has nothing to prove. Maybe more importantly, Kubiak and Denver had a settled QB situation last August and that couldn't be more far from the case this August.

The pick: Yes, Kubiak has an outstanding preseason ATS mark (23-11-2) but as noted, where's the motivation this August? As for John Fox, his teams are 10-4 SU in Week 1 of preseason action in his career, including a year ago when the Bears came out in their first game under Fox's leadership and took apart Miami 27-10 at Soldier Field. 10* play on the Chicago Bears.