Seahawks Bears Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Chicago Bears will host the Seattle Seahawks in a key week 15 matchup between two NFC teams fighting to make the playoffs. The Bears come in off a disappointing 10-13 overtime loss at home to the Broncos. Chicago has now lost three straight since losing starting quarterback Jay Cutler, and are now a game back of both Atlanta and Detroit for the two Wild Card spots. The Seahawks rolled past the Rams 30-13 on Monday Night Football. Seattle has won four of five to get to 6-7 overall, but will need to win out and get some help to make the postseason for a second straight year.

Taking a look at the week 15 NFL lines, oddsmakers currently have the Bears favored by 3.5-points over the Seahawks with the total set at 35.5 points.

Seattle Seahawks:

The Seahawks have really came out of nowhere to get back in the playoff hunt. They started the year just 2-6 in their first eight games, but they seemed to turn the corner in a shocking 22-17 win over the Ravens in week 10. In order for them to prove they belong they must go on the road and beat the Bears this Sunday. Seattle is just 2-4 on the road this season, but do have an impressive 36-25 road win over the Giants back in week 5.

This recent surge is due in large part to the outstanding play of running back Marshawn Lynch, who rushed for 115 yards and touchdown in Seattle’s big win over St Louis. Lynch has rushed for 100 yards or more in five of his last six games. There is some concern that Lynch will struggle to get going against a Chicago defense that ranks 10th in the NFL against the run, allowing just 101.7 ypg on the ground. However, Lynch rushed for 109yards against the Ravens 2nd ranked run defense and 135 against the Cowboys 8th ranked run defense.

Even if Lynch has a productive game against the Bears, Seattle is going to need a solid game out of Tarvaris Jackson if they are going to pull off the upset on the road. Jackson completed 21 of 32 attempts for 224 yards against St Louis. Pretty impressive considering the Seahawks are playing without star wide out Sidney Rice and starting left tackle Russel Okung, who are both done for the season. The Bears are 28th against the pass, giving up 256.5 ypg. Whether or not Jackson can handle the pressure from the Chicago front-seven will play a huge role in this game.

Chicago Bears:

The Bears are falling and falling fast. Not long ago Chicago was looking like a lock to make the playoffs at 7-3. They were riding a five-game winning streak, and it looked like Cutler had finally got the offense on track. Injuries to Cutler and star running back Matt Forte have left the Bears offense in shambles. Chicago has scored just 13 points total in their last two games.

It will be interesting to see how the Bears bounce back after a devastating loss to Denver. Chicago’s defense held Tim Tebow and the Broncos in check almost the entire game, but couldn’t make the plays when they needed to down the stretch. Leading 10-0 with 4:34 left to play in the fourth quarter, Chicago allowed Denver to drive 63 yards for a touchdown. After a 3-and-out by the offense, they allowed Denver to march 39 yards for a game-tying field goal with just seconds left to play. The Broncos would go on to win in overtime, leaving the Bears wondering what just happened.

Marion Barber stepped up and rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown in place of the injured Forte, but all of that was negated by two bad plays down the stretch. Barber ran out of bounds late in the game that saved valuable seconds for the Broncos to tie the game with a field goal and fumbled away the ball inside field goal range in overtime. No one feels worse about the loss than Barber, and I expect to see him run his heart out to make sure the Bears win this game.

Chicago desperately needs to have a big game running the ball, as they aren’t going to win if they have to rely on Caleb Hannie to throw the ball. Hannie went 12 of 19 for just 115 yards against the Broncos, and is completing just 51% of his passes with two touchdowns to six interceptions since taking over for Cutler.

Betting Trends:

Seattle is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 vs. NFC.

Chicago is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.0.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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