NFL Football Betting – Jacksonville Jaguars at Chicago Bears
The Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8 SU, 3-9 ATS) have had a hard time of it this year, and on Sunday things don’t get easier as they take on the Chicago Bears (6-6 SU, 5-6-1 ATS), who are fighting for their playoff lives, in NFL pro football sports betting action that is scheduled for a 1 PM ET kickoff at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
BetUS NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -6.5, Total 40.5
NOTABLE STAT: Bears give up 88.8 rushing yards a game
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Chicago is 6-12 ATS in last 18 home games
In the BetUS NFL football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a 6.5-point favorite, with a posted total of 40.5 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* JAX has covered one of its last six games
* JAX has lost five of its last six games SU
* JAX has played 16 of its last 24 games OVER the total
* CHI has covered one of its last five games
* CHI has covered six of its last 18 home games
* CHI has won five of its last seven home games SU
* CHI has played six of its last seven home games OVER the total
Here it kind of comes down to what the Jaguars have to do to win games. We know that answer already, which is that they have to run the football and makes things relatively safe for David Garrard. Because of the offensive line problems they’ve had, they have had difficulty in that area, and as a result, Garrard, who threw only three interceptions in the 2007 regular season, has tossed nine picks this year. Chicago has shown enough consistency in stopping the run this season (3.4 ypc allowed) that it can’t help causing problems. A quick note about the Bears and the 131 yards they yielded to Adrian Peterson in last week’s game. Peterson had a 59-yard touchdown run, but on his remaining carries, he gained just 2.7 an attempt.
The Jags have had to gain 16 yards for every point they’ve scored, which is a poor figure. And it just looks like Garrard is lost when his running attack isn’t churning out big yardage. With wide receivers who don’t scare anybody (Matt Jones is the only one with more than 28 catches), there aren’t many options. If you are going to be as conservative as they are, you just can’t have any big offensive line problems.
Where would the Chicago Bears be without rookie Matt Forte? The do-everything guy who was drafted in the second round out of Tulane has been Chicago’s leading rusher, with 1012 yards, but he’s also caught more passes than anyone on the roster (48, for 358 yards). he’s been primarily responsible for Kyle Orton having the kind of success he’s had (13 TDs, 7 INTs, 59%). And does anyone believe that Orton, who went 206 passes without an interception before tossing three in a stretch of seven passes against Minnesota, will have a blowup again?
Chicago has laid an egg in two of its last three games. Now they are a game in back of Minnesota in the NFC North. On Sunday they encounter a Jacksonville team that has hardly looked competitive in being outscored by a 60-29 margin the last two weeks.
We have always liked Jack Del Rio’s approach, but things have gotten away from him a bit. We think Jacksonville’s game has dipped to the point where we can lay the points with a division contender. It’s the Bears minus 6.5 points in the BetUS Sportsbook NFL pro football betting odds.
