Wild Bill
5 units
SUNSHINE FORECAST Official Prediction:
Chicago Bears (+7) at Minnesota Vikings
Power Rating Projection:
Minnesota Vikings 25 Chicago Bears 19
THE GOLD SHEET- CONFIDENTIAL KICK OFF (CKO)
10* CHICAGO over *Minnesota
Late Score Forecast:
CHICAGO 24 - *Minnesota 23
(Monday, December 16)
Yes, the Vikes and their young offense is good. But Minnesota is still vulnerable vs. the pass on defense. And,while the defending NFC champs are virtually out of the playoffs, they still have plenty of coaching, talent, and pride.And they haven’t been a double-digit underdog in more than three years,and they covered that one (at Minnesota!).
MARC LAWRENCE PLAYBOOK:
AWESOME ANGLEOF THE WEEK
Marc's Awesome Angle Of The Week Wins 67% In PLAYBOOK Last Four Years!
PLAY AGAINST any sub .400 NFL team in Game 14 if this is their final road game of the season and they are off a SU & ATS loss
PLAY AGAINST: CHICAGO BEARS
5★ BEST BET
Don’t look now, Martha, but here come the Vikings. Given up for
lost at 2-5, they’ve stormed their way in to playoff contention.
In an earlier meeting this season, Minnesota edged the Bears
in Chicago, 34-31. Da Bears enter tonight’s contest 14-25 SUATS
on Mondays since 1980, including 1-10 ATS versus an opponent
off a SUATS win. Minny counters at 6-1 ATS under the Monday
Night lights off a win when going into revenge. Oh yeah, our
AWESOME ANGLE (see page 2) confi rms the fact that the Bears
are off into early hibernation. Enough said. Just do it!
ANDY ISKOE
Best Bet: 282 Vikings -10.5
MINNESOTA - 10 over Chicago (Monday night) - Last season's Super Bowl runner up has suffered the fate of many recent almost champs. Chicago is 5-8 and will miss the Playoffs. The defense which carried them to the Super Bowl last season ranks # 29 this season, allowing 355 yards per game, including 124 vs the rush (# 27). Minnesota is surging at the right time behind their #1 ranked rush offense and #1 ranked rush defense. The Bears are almost the opposite, ranking near the bottom in both rushing stats (#31 on offense, 82 ypg and # 27 defense, 124 ypg). Minnesota is getting much improved QB play from Jackson, who figured to struggle early in his first season as starter. The Bears' QB situation continues to be a mess and they have been thinned out at RB due to injuries. Aside from KR Hester, the Bears do not have much. Minny won the earlier meeting 34-31 and although this is a rivalry and points, especially this many, usually are attractive, it's tough to make a case for the banged up Bears. The Vikes have won each of their last 3 games by at least 24 points and 5 of their 7 wins have been by at least 18 points. Minnesota wins in prime time, 30-13..
THE MAX - KEVIN O' NEIL
Bears (+9½) over @Vikings
Selection and analysis by Kevin O’Neill
Another less than scintillating matchup for the poor
ESPN crew. The Bears didn’t play badly in their loss
to the Redskins last Thursday. They outgained the
Redskins 356-345 and enjoyed a 22-15 first down
advantage. They lost the turnover battle 2-1 and
that hurt them. Obviously the Bears have fallen
victim to the Super Bowl loser hex and are merely
playing out the string. But there is reason to
expect a big (for them) performance out of them
here. All kinds of poor matchups have dimmed the
luster of Monday Night Football in the eyes of the
sporting public. But the players know that this is the
one game each week that is being watched by their
colleagues across the league. And at this time of
the year with a team out of the mix the players
know that the coaches and personnel folks around
the league are watching as well, and with a lot of
Bears probably on their way to other places next
season it wouldn’t hurt to give those folks a head
start on making a positive impression before they do
their player evaluation and make it a positive. Kyle
Orton gets the start here and really, is that a
downgrade? The guy hasn’t really played since being
a serviceable game-manager a couple of years ago.
He was very limited then, but maybe he’s learned
something in the past couple of years.
We pointed out how the Bears had some
advantages in their Thursday night loss that didn’t
make it to the scoreboard. When you look inside
the Vikings win over the Niners in San Francisco on
Sunday, it is jarring to see how little Minnesota
actually did. The Vikings gained only 280 yards and
had all kinds of trouble sustaining offense, notching
only 11 first downs. Chester Taylor popped a 84-
yard TD run but on the other 55 offensive plays the
Vikings gained only 196 yards, including 33 yards
rushing on 30 carries (Adrian Peterson had only 3
yards rushing on 14 carries). The Niners handed
them a short INT return TD on the game’s first play
and from there on it was a cakewalk to beat the
worst offensive team in the league. The offense did
little other than that long Taylor TD run the rest of
the game. It was a “silver platter” game that the
49ers basically handed to the VIkes.
The Vikings do have the better offense and the
better defense. But that’s why this line opened at 10
before wisely being bet down. And getting nearly
double digits with a team that was -3½ early in their Super
Bowl year here last season seems to have some inherent
value. With the extra time off (Thursday to Monday night
is the longest possible rest in the NFL without a bye week)
and with their colleagues around the league watching this
one, expect the Bears to give a top effort. But it speaks to
how far Chicago has fallen that the top effort won’t be
enough to get the win. Vikings by only 4.
Pointwise NFL Phones 3* Minnesota
POINTWISE NESLETTER:
MINNESOTA over Chicago RATING: 2
Norm Hitzges Triple Play
Bears (+10) over VIKINGS
EROCKMONEY
Upset Special) Chicago (+10.5) at Minnesota
Are the Vikings really a dominate team all of sudden? This mirage will come to end shortly and I expect the Bears to rally around Orton, as they did two seasons ago. The Vikings are playing well, yet I expect these divisional rivals to have close battle on Monday night in the dome. Bears play inspired defense and pull the shocker.
Pick: Bears by 3
Vegas Vic
Bears (+10) over VIKINGS
This selection is not so much about the talent on the field, but more about the mind-set off the field. In the last game between these ancient rivals from the old Black & Blue division, Minnesota posted a 34-31 victory at Chicago, but it wasn't so much the score, as the phenomenal rushing effort of Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson. In only his fifth game, Peterson rumbled for 224 yards, scoring touchdowns on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards. That was the most yards the Bears defense has given up, ever! And that goes back 88 years. Then, we have to take a look at the inflated double-digit spread in a historic context. The last time Da Bears were a double-digit 'dog was in 2004. Guess where? Yup, Minnesota. Guess who covered? Yup, Chicago. The final score was 27-22 Minny, which sounds just about right for this Monday night affair.
DOC
282 Vikings -10.5
Jim Kruger Chicago - Minnesota UNDER 43.5 - Bronze 3*
Jim Kruger Minnesota -10 over Chicago - Bronze 3*
LineSmasher
Chicago
Joey Gaffney Hilton Co - Leader
Chicago
Big AL
Minnesota Vikings(paid)