The Chicago Bears should enter their Week 13 matchup against the New York Giants as considerable favorites. Chicago is sitting atop the NFC North and is inching toward its first winning season since 2012 and first postseason appearance since 2010. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, New York’s NFC team is on the verge of a second consecutive losing season and another top-5 pick.
And yet, an injury to Bears starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky has put the oddsmakers in a bit of a bind.
Several sports books haven’t put Sunday’s Bears-Giants Week 13 matchup on the board yet, meaning they will take no wagers on the contest. To this point, that includes the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, which is our go-to when we dig into Vegas odds.
This is a pretty big deal, especially when you consider the amount of public money that fans of teams from Chicago and New York often bring to the table. So with that in mind, it makes sense that sports books would take the wait-and-see approach regarding Trubisky’s injury before setting a favorite, a point spread, and an over/under. Clearly, we aren’t alone in waiting for a Trubisky health status update entering Week 13.
But if you’re really looking for a leg up, there is one number already out there:
The Bears open as 4.5-point favorites at NYG (per @TwitVI). This will be the 5th time they are road favorites this season, matching the mark from 2012.
They were favored on the road 3 times total from 2013-17 (and they went 1-2 in those games).
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) November 26, 2018
The Bears opened as 4.5-point favorites, and as Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic points out, it’s the fifth time they are favorites away from home (the Bears are 3-1 in their previous four games as road favorites).
A 4.5-point spread tells you a little something about how the oddsmakers feel about this matchup. Home teams generally get 3 points for being at home, which means the Bears being a 4.5-point favorite points to the oddsmakers belief that they are 7.5 points better than the Giants on a neutral field. So if you believe the Bears are a touchdown better than the Giants, then your play would probably be to roll with the chalk and take the Bears with the points.