NEWSLETTER
Perhaps the oddsmakers are feeling a little bit better about the health status of the Chicago Bears’ starting quarterback. Because even though the Bears aren’t favorites, the fact that there is an early line suggests … something.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets the Los Angeles Rams opened up as a 4-point favorite against the Chicago Bears in Sunday night’s game at Soldier Field, but the line has since moved to three at the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas. The over/under for the game is at 52.5 points, which is the third highest total of the Week 14 games that are on the board.
This is noteworthy because the Superbook (and many other sites) didn’t have the Bears-Giants game on the board until late in the week because of the uncertainty in who was going to start at quarterback for the Bears. And even when it was decided that Chase Daniel was going to be the man for a second consecutive week, the Bears were just 4.5-point favorites with an over/under of 43 – which is on the lower end of the spectrum. To be clear, keeping lines off the board is something sports books practice often, especially when starting quarterbacks for teams the public bets on furiously are in play. So it feels like it’s something when the Bears line is on the board when Mitch Trubisky’s status is still officially up-in-the-air.
My read of the situation: the oddsmakers see Trubisky as healthy enough to start and playing well enough to put points on the board for the Bears offense. Sometimes, Vegas just knows.
For what it’s worth, the Chase Daniel show put up 27 points against the Giants on Sunday, but left a bunch more on the field because of turnovers and other mistakes. That’s a line where that half-point looms large and will either encourage folks to go for it one way or another or avoid it altogether.
The Rams have been favored in every game this season, but are 5-6-1 against the line. There really isn’t a solid trend if you’re wanting to bet the total on a Rams game because the over and under have each come in on six occasions.
On the other side of the field, the Bears are 0-2 when underdogs, but are 1-1 against the spread. Underdogs are 3-1-1 in the last five against the spread when facing the Rams. Maybe there’s value there – if you believe the Bears can hang with a tough Rams unit.
