Bears Blitz

Published by Mike Pickett on September 17, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears will go for their second straight road victory in prime time when they visit the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.

The Bears rallied back from a 17-0 deficit to stun the San Francisco 49ers 28-20 last week on Sunday Night Football as seven-point road underdogs, while the Jets will be playing an NFC North opponent for the second week in a row after losing 31-24 to the Green Bay Packers on the road.

Bears vs. Jets point spread: The Jets opened as 1.5-point favorites; the total was 45.5 (line updates and matchup report).

Odds Shark computer prediction: 20.9-19.8 Jets

Why the Bears can cover the spread

If Chicago can come back on the road against a defense like San Francisco’s, then this team can beat just about anybody, right? Bettors can certainly argue that point, but it also helps that the Bears played much better defensively, forcing 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick into four turnovers, including three interceptions and one fumble.

That’s the Chicago defense of the past, and the team will need to continue the momentum built on the West Coast back on the East Coast in another prime-time matchup. The Bears, who will have an extra day to prepare for another mistake-prone QB in New York’s Geno Smith, have gone 3-0 against the spread in their last three road games against AFC East opponents.

Why the Jets can cover the spread

Like the Buffalo Bills, who beat Chicago in its season opener, the Jets have an offense that can give their opponent fits if Smith can just limit his mistakes. Running backs Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory provide New York with a powerful one-two punch that can go straight at the Bears and their terrible rush defense.

Defensively, the Jets also have the potential to disrupt Chicago QB Jay Cutler by pressuring him, something he did not have to deal with much last week in San Francisco after he took a shot to the ribs that resulted in a 15-yard penalty. The Bears surprisingly got the benefit of a lot of calls in their favor last Sunday, and it’s hard to imagine that happening two weeks in a row on the road.

New York has won its last four home games as a favorite, going 3-1 ATS.

Smart Pick

The under is 9-2 in Chicago’s last 11 road games vs. AFC East foes, and the Bears will be hard-pressed to score as many points as they did last week against a stingy Jets defense in this spot. Both teams would like to run the ball, which often leads to low-scoring games.

New York would be smart to learn from last week’s loss to the Packers in which QB Aaron Rodgers picked apart the team’s secondary. While Cutler is certainly capable of doing the same thing on occasion, the odds of him doing it in consecutive road games are slim.

The Jets can also look at how the Bills ran the ball over Chicago and patiently worked toward putting themselves into a position to win.

It’s hard to say who will win this game (and the Odds Shark computer has it as a one-point result), but it’s easier to predict that both teams will struggle to score. There are under trends galore here.

Trends

• The total has gone under in seven of Chicago’s last eight games when playing the Jets.
• The under is 9-2 in Chicago’s last 11 road games vs. the AFC East.

All spread and odds data powered by Odds Shark. Follow us on Twitter for injury updates and line move updates.

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