Bet On Football: Bears vs. Lions. The Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions are pretty much heading toe to toe into next Sunday’s game at Ford Field. There are slight differences of course, not least of which is the fact that Chicago is still undefeated, having bested the Cincinnati Bengals, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Detroit has a 2-1 record thanks to a stumble in Arizona against the Cardinals. The two teams share some similarities as well, which have not been lost on people who regularly bet on football. For instance, each team’s three games so far, whether wins or losses, have been rather close contests. Moreover, they have both one-upped the Vikings.
But if you like to bet on football, there is a team that can hand the Bears their first loss this season, as well as give them a run for their money for the top of the NFC North, and that’s probably the Lions. Perhaps this is because they are simply not expected to do so. However, they have already broken one of the hexes of their underwhelming last season, in which they were unable to beat a single divisional team. This year they managed to do just that in their very first game against Minnesota, thanks to the underrated duo of Calvin Johnson and Mathew Sanford, plus the addition of team newcomer Reggie Bush. Those three can more than make up for the loss of Nate Burelson, who’s out with a broken arm.
If we’re talking about tandems though, we’d be remiss not to mention Chicago’s QB and team captain Jay Cutler and wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who have connected 20 times for almost 300 yards and two touchdowns. We mustn’t forget that Da Bears also had a strong start of the season last year (7-1), and yet they failed to reach the playoffs. Lovie Smith’s head rolled because of that, and Marc Trestman has done a fine job making the fans forget about the precious coach. Despite that ominous precedent, those who bet on football will agree that Chicago has a slight edge on Detroit, enough to provide a 3 point spread in their favor.