NFL Preseason Week 2 – Jacksonville vs Chicago
Both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears opened up the preseason with a home win. The Jaguars beat the Buccaneers (16-10) while the Bears put up a ton of points in a win over the Eagles (34-28).
When: Thursday, Aug 14th 2014 at 8:00pm ET
Where: Soldier Field
TV: ESPN
Line: -4 (Chicago) – O/U 42
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Based on the Bears game against the Eagles it appears the offense will be amongst the best in the league, but the defense is going to have problems. Chicago had 491 yards while allowing 359 yards.
The only bright side on the Bears defense was the fact that they forced four turnovers. Jay Cutler didn’t play long, but he completed 9 of 13 pass attempts for 85 yards and 1 TD against Philly.
Chicago’s back-up QB is still up in the air, as Jimmy Clausen and Jordan Palmer are fighting it out. That’s good news though during the preseason, as both QB’s know they need to play at their best.
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I wasn’t too impressed with the Bears run game, as they only gained 92 yards on 32 carries (2.9 Avg.). I expect to see more of Matt Forte this week after he posted –5 rushing yards on 3 carries.
Jacksonville was the opposite of Chicago last week. The defense looked sharp, especially while the 1st unit was on the field. However, the offense played poorly for the most part and struggled to score.
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Blake Bortles did look good though. He completed 7 of 11 passes for 117 yards. Denard Robinson looked good in the run game. Robinson rushed for the game winning TD and had 36 yards on 7 carries.
Part of the problem on offense was the fact that Cecil Shorts and Toby Gerhart were out with injuries. It has been said that Gerhart may play this week, but even if he does he won’t get much work.
Defensively the Jags forced two turnovers and finished the game against TB with 3 sacks. TB only had 13 first downs in the entire game, but this Chicago offense is a completely different beast.
Recent NFL Betting Trends:
- Jaguars are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games.
- Over is 4-1 in Jaguars last 5 Thursday games.
- Jaguars are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.
- Chicago Over is 5-0 in Bears last 5 games on grass.
- Over is 4-0 in Bears last 4 games overall.
- Bears are 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 home games.
- Head to Head Favorite is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 meetings.
Since Trestman took over as the Bears head coach last year this team has been an offensive powerhouse including in the preseason. In five preseason games the Bears have gone over the total four times.
I love the fact that Clausen, Palmer and Nick Fales are battling it out for the back-up QB positions, as all three of them will do their best to impress Trestman and that means we should see a lot of points.
The Jags offense didn’t move the football too much in week 1, but the Bears defense is weak and they don’t have as much depth as they once had. Bortles should throw his first NFL TD in this game.
Chad Henne should also get some more playing time this week in order to prove himself. With a +4 point spread I lean to the underdog, but I feel that the best bet is on the over 42 points on Thursday night.
Jaguars vs. Bears Over/Under Prediction
Bet on Over 42 Points (-110)
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