Bears at 49ers Odds


Written by -

49er head coach Mike Singletary will host his former team Thursday night when the Chicago Bears come to the Bay area. Singletary was the face of the “Monster of the Midway” and struck fear into his opponents from the middle linebacker position. This game is important for both teams as each come in to this game reeling after bad defeats. The Cardinals hung 41 on the usually tough Bears defense in a 20 point victory. San Francisco lost a tough one at home to the 1-6 Tennessee Titans and have gone into a tailspin after starting the season 3-1 losing four in a row. Chicago is getting 3 points with an over/under set at 43.5 points according to the latest odds.

Sitting at 4-4, the Bears are one of the most confusing teams in the NFL. One week they beat Pittsburgh at home 17-14 and a few weeks later they go on the road and get crushed by Cincinnati 45-10. Not counting the Steelers, Chicago has beaten the Seahawks, Browns and Lions. That’s not saying much. QB Jay Cutler has had an up and down season much like his team. He has thrown for over 2000 yards and 14 touchdowns, but his 12 interceptions rank near the top of the league. The acquisition of Cutler in the off-season has not worked out for the Bears to date as they have almost completely abandoned the running game and star second year back Matt Forte. Forte has rushed for only 441 yards with three touchdowns and his 3.6 ypc is dismal for a runner of his caliber. He is only carrying the ball around 15 times a game but has started to be used more in the passing game recently. It is not all Cutler’s fault though as the Bears continue by pass getting a playmaking wide receiver to enhance the air attack. Defensively, Chicago has been racked by injuries as the loss of MLB Brian Urlacher is evident.

Not even a quarterback change could stop the 49ers from a long losing streak. Shaun Hill gave way to Alex Smith two weeks ago and the 49ers have lost both games even though they have been competitive in both. Smith hasn’t been much better than Hill, accounting for almost 700 yards passing and six touchdowns against five interceptions in 2.5 games. The return of RB Frank Gore has aided the offense as Gore has established himself as one of the top backs in the NFL. The fifth year back out of Miami has rushed for 447 yards and five touchdowns after missing a couple games due to injury. TE Vernon Davis has been Smith’s favorite target from the get go when they hooked up three times in the second half against the Texans for scores. Davis has seven touchdown catches in all and has a team high 42 catches. Rookie WR Michael Crabtree has yet to make a splash in the league. After three games, he has 14 catches for 167 yards and has yet to hit the end zone. The 49er defense has been real good against the run, but the pass is a different story. They rank 24th in pass defense and face another young quarterback that likes to toss it around the field this week.

The Bears have followed every poor performance up with a big win and I see this situation being no different. San Francisco isn’t as good as some people thought through the first quarter of the season and Chicago has fed on the lower-tier teams of the NFL. Expect Lovie Smith to make the necessary adjustments to protect his secondary and really key on slowing down 49er running back Frank Gore. Play: Bears +3

Subscribe to the BetFirms RSS Feed
Comments

Got something to say?