After another full slate of Sunday games the NFL gives us a matchup between two of the oldest outfits in the league Sunday night when the surprisingly 3-0 Chicago Bears hit Jersey to take on the disappointingly 1-2 New York Giants (8:20 Eastern, NBC).
As of Friday morning
BetJamaica.com was listing the Bears as 4-point underdogs for Sunday night's game, with an OVER/UNDER of 43.5. Chicago is also getting +175 on the BetJam NFL betting moneyline, with New York giving -210 as the favorites.
The Bears opened this season with that controversial 19-14 win at home over Detroit, although they did out-gain the Lions that day 463-168. Lovie's boys then went down to Dallas and came away with a 27-20 victory. And last Monday Chicago turned a late Green Bay fumble into the game-winning field goal, beating the hated Packers 20-17. So da Bears remain as one of the last three undefeated teams in the league, and they lead the NFC North by a game over the Pack.
New York opened its season and its new stadium with a 31-18 win over Carolina. But the Giants then got their butts kicked 38-14 on a Sunday night in Indianapolis, and last week lost at home to Tennessee 29-10. So the G-Men are not off to the start they had hoped for, coming off an 8-8 season last year. Still, they're only a game out of the lead in the NFC East.
Bettors might want to watch for the Giants to kick away from Bears returner Devin Hester, after the speedy threat set up one Chicago score Monday night with an early return and later brought back another punt for a score.
These two teams last met in a game that mattered back in Week 13 of the 2007 season when the Giants, on their way to that improbable Super Bowl title, rallied to beat the Bears in Chicago 21-16.
So far this NFL season home teams are 28-20 straight up, and 24-23 vs. the
BetJamaica.com pointspreads. But while favorites are 27-21 SU, they're only 19-28 ATS.
And NFL totals have leaned toward the UNDER by a 25-22-1 margin so far this season, as the first three weeks' worth of games have averaged 40.5 total points.
As of Friday morning
BetJamaica.com is listing Chicago at +700 to win the NFC championship this season, with New York getting +2,400. And the Bears are being offered at +1,500 on BetJam's Super Bowl 45 betting board, with the Giants getting +5,000.