2010 Chicago Bears Future Wager

Free NFL Pick: Take Chicago Under 8

The Chicago Bears were one of the biggest disappointments in the league last year, never living up to the lofty expectations laid forth for them by the likes of Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who had called for them to be a top five team in the league before the season started. Instead what we got was a second 7-9 season in three years. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2006 when they somehow managed to go to the Super Bowl in spite of Rex Grossman at QB. This has HC Lovie Smith firmly on the hot seat in the Windy City and we’re calling for this to be his final year with the Monsters of the Midway.

Quarterback has been a sore spot for this franchise ever since the days of Jim McMahon, so the club made a bold move last offseason by bringing in QB Jay Cutler. After being touted as the supposed savior of the franchise, Cutler never lived up to the hype and put forth one of his worst seasons as a pro, tossing an ungodly 26 interceptions, most of any starter in the league. One has to think that if Cutler failed to get the job done in Denver, he is even less likely to succeed here in Chicago where he has fewer offensive weapons.

RB Matt Forte was another huge disappointment for the team last year. After enjoying a breakout rookie season, there was a definite sophomore slump as he failed to even rush for 1000 yards. The Devin Hester experiment at WR has to be considered a bust at this point as well considering he had just 757 yards receiving, although that did lead the team.

With the Bears struggling so mightily offensively, the decision was made to bring in Mike Martz as the offensive coordinator. Keep in mind that following a successful tenure as HC of the St. Louis Rams, Martz has failed as an OC with both the Lions and 49ers.

Through three preseason games so far, things have gone from bad to worse in Chicago with the offense scoring just 36 points total. There are offensive line issues as well with Cutler being sacked nine times in the last two games.

Defense has always been the calling card for the Bears, but this once mighty unit faltered in 2009 ranking 17th in total defense, including 23 against the run. Much of that slip can be attributed to injury, so we should expect the team to be more solid on this side of the ball in 2010, particularly with the addition of Pro Bowl DE Julius Peppers to bolster the pass rush.

Chicago was a terrible pointspread team last season, at one point failing to cover seven straight games and nine of ten before ending the campaign with a pair of ATS wins against division rivals. It was the third straight season that the Bears finished below the break-even point.

Playing in the same division as Green Bay and Minnesota, two playoff teams from last season, makes it difficult for Chicago to climb the NFC North standings. The oddsmakers are calling for eight wins this season with the early money coming in on the Under. Have to agree with the public here as with the Detroit Lions also improving, the Bears are more likely to fall than rise in the standings. The non-division schedule is tough with eight games against the NFC East and AFC East, arguably the two toughest divisions in football. The game considered to be the most winnable of that group (vs. Buffalo) is played in Toronto on November 7th, also a bad break.

Free NFL Pick: Take Chicago Under 8 Wins

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