NFL Odds: 49ers open new stadium as favorites vs. Bears on Sunday night

The San Francisco 49ers will open their new stadium on Sunday night against the Bears, hoping that Levi's Stadium provides the same negative impact on their visitors from Chicago that their old stadium did. The 49ers dominated the Bears in their last seven meetings at Candlestick Park, winning by an average margin of nearly 28 points per game and covering the spread each time.

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San Francisco is a modest 7-point favorite against Chicago according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, considering the history between the teams and how each performed in Week 1. The 49ers came out strong in a 28-17 victory at Dallas, capitalizing on the Cowboys' many mistakes and jumping out to a 21-3 lead after the first quarter, easily covering the spread as 3-point road favorites. San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a solid game with 201 passing yards and two touchdowns but carried the ball just five times for 11 yards.

Kaepernick’s running ability could be the difference against a Bears defense that ranked No. 32 in the NFL a year ago and did not look much better in a 23-20 overtime loss at home to Buffalo last week. Chicago saw Bills running back Fred Jackson lock up the game in OT when he broke loose for a 38-yard gain to the one-yard line, setting up the winning field goal. Buffalo totaled 193 rushing yards against a Bears run D that surrendered an average of 161.4 yards per game on the ground, the worst in franchise history.

The Bears have performed surprisingly well lately in their last five games as road underdogs of seven points or more with a 4-1 against the spread mark according to the OddsShark.com NFL database. Meanwhile, the 49ers have gone 3-6 against the spread in their past nine as home favorites of seven or more. However, San Francisco has fared particularly well vs. NFC North opponents lately, going 6-0-1 against the spread in the last seven games.

In the last Bears vs. Niners betting matchup two years ago on Monday Night Football, Kaepernick made his first career start for San Francisco and torched Chicago for 243 passing yards and two TDs in a 32-7 win as 3.5-point favorites. Bears QB Jay Cutler missed that game due to injury and threw five interceptions in the previous meeting at San Francisco, a 10-6 loss in 2009.