New Orleans +125 ML
The Bears find themselves a game behind division leader Minnesota in what amounts to a must-win if they have any hope of making the playoffs in the NFC. On tap for Chicago is a Green Bay team which pounded them 37-3 a few weeks ago and a suddenly hot Houston team who is 4-2 @ home this season.
The Saints present a tough challenge, both to the Bears and themselves. They have won back-to-back games just once all season and have won just one game outside of Louisiana.
The "book" on New Orleans is they can score at will, but will give up just as many points to their opponents. While true, the Saints have actually been "better" defensively the past few weeks. Most teams assume they can throw on the Saints. And while they have been vulnerable to the big play (allowing 45 pass plays of 20+ yards), they have defended the pass pretty well otherwise. They allow opposing QBS to complete just 57% of their passes and despite the plethora of big pass plays, allow just 7.2 yards per pass play. Not too bad. Their run defense has been middle of the pack this season, allowing 112.8 y/pg with only LT eclipsing the century mark.
Since Kyle Orton returned from injury, he has played like the Kyle Orton we all thought he was. Orton has just 3 TDS to 5 TOS and has thrown for just 159 y/pg in his four games back.
The Bears defense has not been much better, ranking fifth from the bottom in pass yards while fattening their stats against the likes of Trent Green and David Garrard.
If the Bears get into any kind of a hole against New Orleans (who now has a healthy Reggie Bush back in the lineup), I have no confidence that they will be able to score offensively. If New Orleans takes care of the ball there is no reason to think they can't win this game by at least a TD.
The Bears find themselves a game behind division leader Minnesota in what amounts to a must-win if they have any hope of making the playoffs in the NFC. On tap for Chicago is a Green Bay team which pounded them 37-3 a few weeks ago and a suddenly hot Houston team who is 4-2 @ home this season.
The Saints present a tough challenge, both to the Bears and themselves. They have won back-to-back games just once all season and have won just one game outside of Louisiana.
The "book" on New Orleans is they can score at will, but will give up just as many points to their opponents. While true, the Saints have actually been "better" defensively the past few weeks. Most teams assume they can throw on the Saints. And while they have been vulnerable to the big play (allowing 45 pass plays of 20+ yards), they have defended the pass pretty well otherwise. They allow opposing QBS to complete just 57% of their passes and despite the plethora of big pass plays, allow just 7.2 yards per pass play. Not too bad. Their run defense has been middle of the pack this season, allowing 112.8 y/pg with only LT eclipsing the century mark.
Since Kyle Orton returned from injury, he has played like the Kyle Orton we all thought he was. Orton has just 3 TDS to 5 TOS and has thrown for just 159 y/pg in his four games back.
The Bears defense has not been much better, ranking fifth from the bottom in pass yards while fattening their stats against the likes of Trent Green and David Garrard.
If the Bears get into any kind of a hole against New Orleans (who now has a healthy Reggie Bush back in the lineup), I have no confidence that they will be able to score offensively. If New Orleans takes care of the ball there is no reason to think they can't win this game by at least a TD.
