Vegas Odds for Bears-Browns |
CHICAGO - Right now, bettors are predicting it will be a close game with the over / under at 38 and the spread at 3. While the Bears have typically been a team to take the over on, this game may be an exception.
Both teams have highly talented defenses. The Bears have been generating turnovers while the Browns are the best in the league in lowest completion percentage. However, for Cleveland, they have been giving up a lot more points recently than they usually do. Chicago has not been entirely consistent putting up points and if DJ Moore is unable to play, then they surely will struggle getting the ball downfield. Therefore, if Moore is not able to play in this game, then bettors should take the under as the Bears will not score a lot of points and will rely on their defense once again to generate turnovers, which they have been successful at, and contain Joe Flacco’s Cleveland offense. That should not be hard to do as long as the defense is disciplined. Most problems for the Jacksonville Jaguars against Flacco and the Browns came on blown coverages that led to momentum shifts. So as long as Chicago can prevent big plays, they should be able to keep this a close game throughout. For individual player props, taking Justin Fields on the over for rushing is a good idea. First, he will most likely be under constant pressure from defensive end Myles Garrett and the rest of the Cleveland defense. At times, this will lead to a lot of sacks. However, Fields also has the ability to get away and make some plays with his legs. Therefore, from scramble drills, he should be able to hit the over on rushing yards. Moore is currently questionable with an ankle injury, although he was a full participant in practice. If he is able to play, he should most certainly be an over for receiving yards. He is always Fields’ favorite target and will be essential if Chicago is going to pull off an upset. Further, he should be a bet for an anytime scorer. He has scored a touchdown in two of the last three games and teams have been putting up a lot of points on the Browns lately. So, if anyone on the Bears is going to be putting up those points, it is going to be Moore. However, it could also be tight end Cole Kmet. The Browns allowed Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight end Evan Engram to score twice last week and he came into that game with only one touchdown all season. Kmet has been a larger red zone presence than that. So, he is another player for Chicago that should find the end zone in this matchup. If you are someone that truly trusts that the Bears can pull off this victory, there is certainly an argument to be made for betting on Chicago to beat the Cleveland Browns. The Bears need this victory to realistically stay in playoff contention in the NFC as there are a total of eight teams two or less games outside of the sixth and seventh seeds, not including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sitting at 6-7 leading the NFC South. While Cleveland is also in a close race with six teams sitting at 7-6, one game behind them, Chicago has been the hungrier team as of late with a two-game winning streak versus Cleveland’s two losses in the past three games.
