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Carrie Stroup here with your spread on the Lions vs. Bears game where the number has stabilized at -6.5 favoring Chicago. Bet this Monday Night Football game at Sportsbook.com here, where you can receive up to $250 in FREE CASH on your initial deposit.
Sportsbook.ag Line: Chicago -6.5 & 46.5
Opening Line & Total: Bears -6 & 47.5
The red-hot Bears look for a fourth straight win (SU and ATS) when they host a Lions team that earned just its first ATS victory of the season last week.
The Lions haven't won SU in Chicago since 2007 and are 3-11 (7-7 ATS) in this series since 2005. They were blown out at Soldier Field a year ago, a game in which the Lions turned it over six times in a 37-13 Bears rout. Detroit's M.O. this year has been to fall behind before opening up the offense and coming back (their two wins were last-second over St. Louis in Week 1, and in OT at Philly last week), but that would be more of a challenge against a Bears defense that gives up few big plays and forces a lot of turnovers. Chicago has two convincing wins at home this year (23-6 over St. Louis and 41-21 over Indy) and has 17 takeaways through five games. The Lions have struggled in the first half of their games, but history shows that's a good thing as far betting is concerned. Road underdogs (or pick) as a slow-starting team (losing first half by 5+ PPG) after scoring seven points or less in the first half in two straight games are an impressive 58-29 ATS (67%) in the past 10 seasons.
Matthew Stafford has been pretty poor this season with a 79.2 passer rating (6.8 YPA, 4 TD, 5 INT), but his team still ranks second in the NFL in passing yards (320 YPG). Stafford has been downright horrible in three career games at Chicago, completing just 59.6% of his passes for 708 yards (6.2 YPA), 2 TD and 5 INT, including four picks last year. The good news is that the ground game has been strong in the past two road contests, piling up 139.5 rushing YPG on 4.4 YPC. Mikel Leshoure has 170 rushing yards on 4.1 YPC in his two road contests. Defensively, Detroit has been pretty strong since allowing 44 points in an overtime loss in Tennessee. In two games since, the Lions have surrendered just 292 total YPG and forced three Eagles turnovers in last week's 26-23 overtime win. For the season, the Lions rank 11th in rushing defense (96 YPG) and 16th against the pass (228 YPG).
The Bears have destroyed three straight opponents by a combined score of 98-27, with the defense scoring a ridiculous five touchdowns on interception returns over this three-game span. They also have the league's best rushing defense (66 YPG), holding the past three opponents to 53 rushing YPG on 3.3 YPC. Offensively, Chicago is rushing the ball very well (124 YPG, 10th in NFL), but hasn't been too efficient in the passing game (223 YPG, 23rd in league). QB Jay Cutler has a subpar 78.7 passer rating, completing just 57.7% of his passes with 7 TD and 7 INT. However, he has dominated the Lions since joining Chicago, completing 67% of his passes for 1,395 yards (233 YPG), 10 TD and 1 INT in six games, leading his team to victory in five of those six meetings.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
