NFC North Total win best bet – Bears

NFC NORTH TOTAL WIN BEST BET – Under 7.5 Chicago Bears

The QB situation in Chicago is not great.  Maybe worse than last season.  It looks like Andy Dalton will be the starter and he hasn’t had a winning record as a starter since 2015.  Justin Fields is waiting in the wings and while he has great potential, rookies usually struggle their first season.  On top of that their offensive line will be a liability and their WR’s after Allen Robinson are well below average.  Because of that they better be able to run the ball successfully after averaging only 99 YPG on the ground last year.  The Bears finished 23rd in the NFL in scoring last year and we look for their numbers on the offensive side of the ball to be worse in 2021.  So that means the defense better play outstanding in order for this team to get to a .500 type record.  Their pass defense was middle of the pack in most key categories and they lost their top cover CB Fuller.  The problem for them this year is they face a brutal schedule of QB’s.  Possibly the toughest in the NFL this year.  The face Rodgers (twice), Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Matt Stafford, Derek Carr, and Ben Roethlisberger.  Their “easier” set of QB’s faced this upcoming season include Jared Goff (twice), Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Kirk Cousins (twice).  That’s as tough as it gets for a defense.  We have the Bears currently favored in only 4 of their 17 games this year.  In three of those games we have them favored by a FG or less.  Unless Fields drastically outplays our expectations in his first season, it’s going to be tough for Chicago to reach 8 wins this year and we like the Under.