2019 NFL Wild Card Picks – Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears
The Philadelphia Eagles just wanted a chance to defend their Super Bowl title, and they got it on the final weekend of the regular season when the Chicago Bears knocked off Minnesota, opening the wild card door for Philly.
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With Nick Foles twirling his magic wand again, the Eagles won three in a row to edge the Vikings for the final playoff spot in the NFC, setting up a date with the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday to conclude Wild Card Weekend.
Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears
Date and Time: Sunday, January 6, 2019, 4:40 p.m. ET
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
Opening NFL Odds: Bears -4.5, O/U 41
Eagles at Bears TV Coverage: NBC
Live Betting Odds Analysis
The Eagles rode the best record in the NFC into last season’s playoffs, winning both home games and advancing to the Super Bowl. That won’t happen this year with Philly squeaking into the postseason as the last wild card team and having to win three games on the road to reach the Super Bowl. But the Eagles are riding the hot hand of Foles once again, who led them to three straight victories to close the year.
BET LIVE THROUGHOUT THE GAME UP TO THE FINAL MINUTE OF PLAY HERE
With Foles at the helm last season the Eagles were an underdog in every playoff game, despite having home field. They are pegged as dogs on Sunday, opening +4.5 on the NFL betting line with that number wagered to +6. They won their last two road games of year, including a major upset of the Rams at -13.5 in Foles’ first game since taking over for the injured Carson Wentz.
We didn’t expect the Bears to be this good so soon, accomplishing a lot under first year coach Matt Nagy. They won their last four games and nine of 10 to finish the campaign with their most victories since 2006 when they lost to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl. The Bears were 9-1 ATS during their season-ending run and finished as the most profitable team in the NFL with a 12-4 ATS ledger. The Bears regained their swagger at home with a loss to New England in Week 7 their only blemish. They went 7-1 SU and ATS at Soldier Field during the regular season.
Matchup to Watch
With Foles at the helm, the Eagles offense showed signs of life. The unit wasn’t as effective as last season when Carson Wentz was having a MVP-type season before being shelved with a knee injury, and they struggled out of the gate. They scored more than 30 points just once and failed to reach the 20-point mark three times in their first 13 games. With Foles taking over in Week 15, Philly outlasted the Rams 30-23 and followed that with a comeback 32-30 win over the Texans.
But if defense wins championships, the Bears are a good bet. They have the most ferocious unit in the league and we saw just how committed they are last week when they smothered the Vikings in a game that had no outcome on their playoff seeding. This was a top-10 unit under Vic Fangio last season and the addition of Khalil Mack made them one of the best this year.
The Bears get to the quarterback with their 50 sacks the second-most in the NFL, and they forced a league-high 36 turnovers. Mack was the disruptor with 12.5 sacks despite missing a few games with an injury, and Chicago was first against the run and allowed the fewest points in the league. Philly has to find a way to dent Chicago’s D and they can’t turn the football over.
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Player to Watch
Following their fast start to the year, the Bears’ offense cooled a bit. But when you have the league’s best defense behind you, not much needs to be done. There is some concern with this being the first playoff game for Mitchell Trubusky, and the Bears QB did enough down the stretch to get them a division title. Can he deliver in a high stakes game?
Trubisky had outstanding numbers during the year completing 66.6 percent of his passes for 3,223 yards and 24 touchdowns. But the numbers were down in four games after his return from a shoulder injury. The Bears don’t need him to do a lot, and as long as he doesn’t screw things up the Bears should be fine.
Betting Philadelphia at Chicago at BookMaker.eu
Chicago’s two lowest scoring games of the season came in the last four when they tallied 15 against the Rams and 14 at San Francisco. Yet the Bears won them both with the offense generating just enough. That leads me to believe this isn’t going to be a shootout and betting below the point totals on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu should produce a winner.
NFL Wild Card ATS Betting Pick: Chicago -6 at BookMaker.eu
NFL Wild Card Score Prediction: Chicago 21, Philadelphia 13
