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Panthers Bears Line

The Chicago Bears will look to rebound from back-to-back losses when they host the Carolina Panthers in week 4. The Bears opened the season with an impressive  30-12 win over Atlanta, but followed that up with a 13-30 loss at New Orleans and a 17-27 loss at home to Green Bay last week. The Panthers lost by a touchdown in each of their first two games against Arizona and Green Bay, but got on the board with a 16-10 win at home over Jacksonville in week 3.  Chicago had no trouble against the Panthers a season ago, beating Carolina 23-6 on their home field.

Looking at the week 4 NFL lines, oddsmakers have the Bears favored by 6.5-points over the Panthers with the total set at 43 points.

Carolina Panthers:

While every game is important, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is taking this one a little more personal than most games. Rivera is a former player and coach of Chicago. He was the defense coordinator when the Bears made it to the Super Bowl in 2004, but Chicago decided not to renew his contract the following season.

The Panthers appear to have struck gold with No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton. The rookie quarterback is third in the NFL with 1,012 passing yards after three games. He is coming off a less than impressive showing against Jacksonville, hitting just 18 of 34 for 158 yards, but did find tight end Greg Olson for the game winning touchdown. The Bears defense hasn’t been all  that great against the pass, allowing 277.3 yards per game.

Newton’s favorite target so far has been star wide out Steve Smith, who is third in the NFL with 349 receiving yards on 16 receptions. Olson came over from Chicago in trade, and looks to be gaining the trust of Newton after catching seven passes for 57 yards against the Jaguars.

As good as the Panthers have looked, they have really struggled to run the football. Carolina went out and resigned DeAngelo Williams to a big contract, but Williams has just  61 yards on 27 attempts. Jonathan Stewart hasn’t been much better, totaling 90 yards on 23 carries. Newton actually leads the team with 98 yards on the ground and has scored both of their rushing touchdowns. Hard to imagine Williams and Stewart being much of a factor against the Bears this week.

Chicago Bears:

This is a huge game for the Bears, who desperately need a win to keep pace with the Packers and Lions, who have both started the year 3-0. The Bears haven’t exactly been all that impressive on either side of the ball. They held Atlanta to just 12 points in the opener, but the Falcons had 386 yards of total offense in that game.

The Bears biggest problem so far has been the poor play of the offensive line. Chicago is 31st in the league averaging just 53.7 yards per game on the ground and Jay Cutler has been sacked 15 times in three games. Rookie tackle Gabe Carimi remains out with a knee injury for at least a couple more weeks.

Cutler is completing just 54.4% of his passes and has only five touchdowns to three interceptions. In order to have success in Mike Martz’s offense you need time to let the routes develop, something Cutler hasn’t had all season.

Matt Forte rushed for 1,069 yards in 2010, but has just 119 yards on 35 carries in three games. That has him on pace to rush for 635 yards. He does have a team-best 22 catches for 287 yards, but that isn’t a good thing when your running back is your best receiver. Chicago needs to find a way to get the running game going or it could turn into a very long season in the windy city.

Carolina is 25th against the run this season, allowing 117 yards a game. They allowed 122 yards to Maurice Jones-Drew last week and it will be interesting to see if Chicago can get the ground game going against the Panthers.

Betting Trends:

Carolina is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.

Chicago is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.0.

If you are looking for some expert advice on who to take this week. Be sure to stop back and check out what Steve Janus has to offer in week 4 of the NFL.