Bears Favored At Home in Battle Between Desperate Divisional Rivals

The Bears and Lions have failed to meet expectations through the first half of the season, and now square off with their seasons essentially on the line. With a playoff-style atmosphere expected, will the Lions’ recent success against Chicago continue in Week 10?

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Bears opened as 3-point favorites, a combination of being at home and having the vastly superior defense in what should be a tightly contested divisional game. As both teams are desperate for a win, the total opened at a modest 44, but the early action has been on the UNDER, as the total has already shifted to 42.5.

Detroit News & Notes

Another week, another heartbreaking loss for the Detroit Lions.

The Lions failed to tie the game on fourth-and-goal last week, falling 31-24 to the Oakland Raiders. Seven of their eight games have been decided by a touchdown or less, and even though quarterback Matthew Stafford is having a career year, the Lions are just 3-4-1 and desperately need a win in Week 10 to have any hopes of staying in playoff contention.

Stafford leads the NFL with 312.4 passing yards per game, he’s on pace for a career-high 38 passing touchdowns and he has a career-best 106.0 quarterback rating. Despite that, the Lions are struggling because they have one of the league’s worst defenses.

Detroit allows the second-most yards and the fifth-most points in the league. The one positive for the Lions is that Chicago’s offense has been extremely disjointed, plus the Lions have done well against the Bears recently — they’ve won nine of the last 12 games SU.

Chicago News & Notes

The Chicago Bears had high hopes for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky this season, but right now the only list he’s near the top of is the “worst starting QB in the league” discussion.

At halftime of their Week 9 loss to Philadelphia, Chicago had run 20 plays for nine total offensive yards and recorded just two first downs — one rushing and one via penalty, both on the last drive of the half.

The offense showed a little bit of life in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Trubisky simply needs to be better, and he needs to be better early — on his eight Sportsbook drives this season, Chicago has failed to score a single point.

If Trubisky can’t get it going on Sunday against one of the NFL’s worst defenses, he doesn’t just run the risk of losing their fifth straight game (ATS and SU) ... he risks losing his job as a starting quarterback.

Betting Pick: Detroit +3

The Lions tend to play every game close. Giving them 3 points against a Bears offense that has been horrendous this season, I’ll take them to cover.