NFL Football Betting – Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Two teams who were involved in absolute nail-biters last weekend will get together in the Windy City on Sunday, when the Minnesota Vikings (3-3 SU, 2-4 ATS) face off against the Chicago Bears (3-3 SU, 3-2-1 ATS) in NFC North action that is set for a 1 PM ET kickoff at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Sunday, October 19
BetUS NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3, Total 38
NOTABLE STAT: Vikings have allowed 3.2 yards per rushing attempt
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Minnesota is 2-7 ATS in its last nine games
In the BetUS NFL football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite, with a posted total of 38 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* MINN has covered two of its last nine games
* MINN has lost 11 of its last 16 road games SU
* MINN has played four of its last six road games OVER the total
* CHI is 6-2-1 ATS in its last nine games
* CHI has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last six home games
* CHI has covered five of its last 15 home games
* CHI has won four of its last six home games SU
* CHI has played five of its last six home games OVER the total
Also…
* CHI is 5-3-1 ATS in the last nine meetings
* CHI has won six of the last seven meetings SU as the home team
Last week, Minnesota held the Detroit Lions to 212 total yards, eight first downs and two third down conversions and still needed a Ryan Longwell field goal with nine seconds left to beat what maybe the worst team in professional football, playing with their second-team quarterback. It’s a good thing for them that Adrian Peterson is in decent form (111 yards last week) because if you recall, he’s the guy who went for 224 against the Bears on this field in his rookie year.
It’s nice that Gus Frerotte has opened up things a little for the Minnesota offense, as he passed for 296 yards last week. But obviously that doesn’t produce much more in the way of points than did Tarvaris Jackson’s errant throws previous to this. You have to concede that Chicago is doing a much better job this year in slowing down the run (3.5 ypc), and was able to limit Michael Turner to 54 yards on 25 carries at the Georgia Dome last Sunday.
Meanwhile, Kyle Orton went through another game in which he was interception-free (now 8 TD’s, 4 INT’s on the year) and rookie back Matt Forte, a versatile performer at Tulane, is demonstrating that he can do more than just carry it out of the backfield (21 catches in last five games).
We expect that Chicago will go to the air a little more than usual, which is why this has been a good timing for Devin Hester (11 receptions for 153 yards in last two weeks) to become a more prominent part of this offense. Remember that Chicago is exactly eight points from an undefeated season right now, and Minnesota is not too far from having a 1-5 start. On balance, the Bears have been the team who has been more consistent, and we’ll lay the points with Chicago, the three-point favorite in the BetUS NFL football betting odds.
