Chicago/Green Bay
Chicago/Green Bay
NFC North foes meet for a 3rd time this year.
Should be a slobber knocker.
Green Bay opened as a 3 point road choice, and is currently fetching a lot of action, forcing the books to move off to a 3.5 Certainly the Pack have gained steam by winning in Philly, and then dismantling top seeded Atlanta.
It's tough to call the 2nd meeting meaningful, and using that logic, that doesn't give us much from the first meeting, a 20-17 Bears victory.
Lot of perception issues here....
Green Bay looks like they could be hoisting the Lombardi trophy.
Chicago no one knows. They beat an upstart Seahawks team, but aside from that, did not play a meaningful game since Week 16, a win over the Jets.
Bears: FS Chris Harris questionable
Packers: LB Frank Zombo questionable, S Atari Bigby questionable, and FB Korey Hall questionable
Packers 2nd in the league in win differential (9.2/g)
Bears 10th at 3.0/g
Packers 4th in takeaway differential at +10
Bears 11th in takeaway differential at +4
The Bears will have to spread the Packers defense out. Look for Greg Olsen to be heavily involved with the game plan. He and Davis will need to peel out and find either mismatches or hot reads off of the snap. Can Cutler process this? Time will tell.
The Packers will need to play up tempo. They have a better captain at the helm, and definitely can score the home run. That said, they will want to run to establish the pass.
The Bears may pass to establish the run. If they can get to the point where they can run successfully (see Jets victories over Indy/NE), then that will be a winning plan. They cannot get caught up in a shootout.
Home field has been decent for the Bears, as they went 5-3 SU, 2-1 as a home puppy.
Green Bay is 2-3 ATS as a road chalk, and are 5-5 SU on the road.
I don't see Green Bay as 6.5 points better than the Bears on a neutral site. Therefore, I'll grab the 3.5 at home.
The total opened at 43, and is as high as 43.5 in some shops.
I like the Under, and I'm taking the Bears. +3.5 and a dabble on the Money Line.
Good Luck
