| The Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars kick off the second full week of NFL preseason action tonight at Soldier Field (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Line: Bears -3; Total: 42 Line movement: While Chicago opened -4, the spread is down to -3 or -3.5 around Las Vegas as of Thursday morning. Some books are flashing 42.5 for the total. Chad Henne (4-for-7, 30 yards) started in Jacksonville's first preseason game, but it was rookie quarterback Blake Bortles who made headlines in his pro debut. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft -- and the first quarterback off the board -- finished 7-for-11 for 117 yards and a 99.4 QB rating in the Jags' 16-10 win vs. Tampa Bay. Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley remains adamant that Henne will be his starter in 2014 while Bortles soaks the game up from the sidelines in his first year. But he's also confirmed that Bortles will receive first-team reps at some point this summer. Also worth noting is the potential Jacksonville debut of free agent running back Toby Gerhart, who has been out of action with a hip flexor injury. The ailment wasn't considered serious, but it still held him out for two weeks. He's returned to practice and could get on the field against Chicago. The Bears were clicking -- offensively at least -- in their first taste of live football this season, outscoring the Eagles 34-28 in a preseason shootout. Big things are expected from Jay Cutler, who finished 9-for-13 for 85 yards and a touchdown, in his second year running Marc Trestman's offense. Backup Jimmy Clausen (7-for-13, 150 yards, 2 TDs) was impressive in relief last week. Preseason records and trends: The strongest identifiable preseason trend related to this game is the Bears' 4-1 record to the OVER in Trestman's two seasons at the helm. The Jags were 3-1 O/U last preseason, Bradley's first with the team, but last week's game with the Bucs stayed well UNDER the total. Jacksonville dropped its first three exhibition games last season, both SU and ATS, while the Bears are now 2-2-1 ATS in the preseason under Trestman. The Linemakers' lean: If this were a Week 1 regular-season matchup, the Bears would be favored in the 12.5- to 13-point range, and while the preseason is a different beast, the spread here feels plenty light to us. Sure, we noticed Bortles' performance last week, but Chicago's QB rotation is still superior. In terms of the total, despite the aforementioned trends to the OVER, we're not ready to trust the Jags' offense, so we'll stick to a play in the side. Chicago -3 is the play. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.