Bears favored as they try to get first win of season vs. Carson Wentz, Eagles
The Chicago Bears have been one of the NFL’s worst home teams over the previous two seasons and will try to get off to a fresh start at Soldier Field when they host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football as three-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Bears are a dismal 1–10 straight up and 3–8 against the spread in their last 11 home games, according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
Chicago is coming off a disappointing 23–14 road loss to the Houston Texans last week that started off promising. The Bears led 14–10 at halftime thanks to an Eddie Royal touchdown catch with seven seconds remaining in the second quarter but did nothing offensively in the second half to waste a solid early effort.
Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler was not on the same page with second-year wide receiver Kevin White—who missed his entire rookie season with a leg injury—which led to a costly interception in the third quarter, and all of Alshon Jeffrey made all four of his catches for 105 yards in the first half.
Philadelphia had a completely different experience in its season opener at home against the Cleveland Browns, winning 29–10 as four-point favorites behind rookie quarterback Carson Wentz.
The second overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft looked outstanding in his debut despite missing the last three games of the preseason with a broken rib. Wentz threw for 278 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Bears will need to be ready for him defensively after he completed five of his six passes of 15 yards or more.
Although Wentz will be making his first career road start in Monday's Eagles vs. Bears betting matchup, Philadelphia has won five of the past seven meetings SU at Soldier Field. The Bears have also struggled lately as chalk of three points or more, going 1–7 against the spread over their last eight games in that role.
In addition, this could be a high-scoring affair based on recent history in the series. The OVER is 3–0 in the last three head-to-head matchups, with all of them finishing with 54 points or more. Philly won the last meeting 54-11 three years ago as a three-point home favorite in the Week 16 Sunday Night Football matchup.
