Saints Hoping to Get Back on Track Against Bears on Monday Night
By:
Don Best Staff |
Sunday, December 14, 2014
New Orleans Opened as a 3-point Road Favorite At Chicago.
Week 15 of the NFL season closes with a meaningful Monday
Night Football matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears. At
least it's meaningful for the Saints, who can take sole possession of first
place in the NFC South with a victory at Chicago, where they earned a 26-18 win
last year. The Bears will be home underdogs for the second straight week with
New Orleans sitting as a 3-point road favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas
SuperBook (click here to check
latest NFL odds).
The Saints are coming off 41-10 home loss to the Carolina
Panthers last Sunday, and they have now dropped four of their past five games
both straight-up and against the spread. The lone victory during that stretch
surprisingly came on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13. New
Orleans won that game 35-32 as a 4-point underdog, and the team has covered
three in a row away from home.
Chicago has been brutal at Soldier Field over the last three
years, covering the number just four times in their past 20 games there. Two of
the four covers actually took place in the previous two home games for the
Bears before they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 41-28 as 3.5-point underdogs on
Thursday Night Football in Week 14. They beat the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa
Bay Buccaneers by identical 21-13 scores prior to falling to the Cowboys.
Chicago lost wide receiver Brandon Marshall for the season with a rib injury he
suffered in the loss to Dallas, and he scored a touchdown in last year's loss
to the Saints.
Last season's meeting saw New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham
total 10 receptions for 135 yards while quarterback Drew Brees finished with
288 yards and two TDs. Much like last week's game against the Cowboys, Chicago
dug itself into an early hole, trailing 20-7 at halftime before a late rally
fell short. Bears QB Jay Cutler threw for 358 yards and two TDs, including one
to WR Alshon Jeffery, who had 10 catches for a team-record 218 receiving yards.
The Saints have won the past two meetings with Chicago SU
and ATS with the "under" cashing both times. However, the "over" has resulted
in three straight for New Orleans overall and is 5-1 in the team's road games so
far this year.
Click here
for NFL picks on the Monday Night Football game from the Don Best handicappers.