The Bears are the underdogs yet again at home in the Divisional round against the Rams!
It’s the second round of the NFL playoffs and this game is between the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams for the Divisional round. The Rams played in the first game of the Wild Card round against the Panthers and came through with a 34-31 win on the road as the number 5 seed.
The Bears faced their divisional rivals, the Green Bay Packers, in a game that went down to the wire despite Chicago falling behind 21-3 at the half. Nevertheless, Chicago will now head into the Divisional round with plenty of confidence.
In this article, we will take a look at the opening odds for the upcoming Divisional matchup between these two teams.
What are the opening odds for the Bears vs Rams?
The table below gives the opening odds for the Bears vs Rams matchup as per FanDuel.
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For the early spread, we are leaning towards the Chicago Bears to win against the Bears in the Divisional round. This matchup is tricky to call since both teams have had their fair share of ups and downs this season.
Both teams are coming off closely contested matches from the Wild Card round. While the Rams did well to hold off a valiant effort from the Panthers, the Bears played their hearts out in a huge come-from-behind win over the Packers.
The Rams have the best offense in the league, averaging just over 30 points a game during the regular season. They also put up 34 points in their win over the Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. Having said that, the weather in Chicago is expected to be much cooler than what the Rams are used to, and this could be a big factor on game day.
Additionally, Chicago is 6-3 at home and 2-0 ATS as home underdogs, whereas the Rams haven’t been too successful on the road (5-4).
As far as the total points over/under is concerned, we are leaning towards the Over in this game. While both defenses rank high in scoring defense, allowing 20.4 (Rams) and 24.4 (Bears) points per game, the Rams’ offense is averaging above 30 and the Bears’ offense is averaging just a shade under 26. We expect this game to be an offensive battle with the total score going above 51 points.
Early player prop: Matthew Stafford Over 35.5 pass attempts (+100)
For the early player prop, we are inclining towards Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford to have over 35.5 pass attempts in the game. We feel this could be a good bet considering the Rams’ heavy reliance on the pass game.
Stafford has attempted 36 or more passes in each of his last 5 games, including the playoff game against the Panthers on Saturday. Additionally, the Bears rank third in the league in stopping the run, which could force L.A. to run a higher volume of pass plays.
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Trends to Monitor
Here are some of the key trends to monitor for the Bears’ Divisional game against the Rams.
The Chicago Bears are 2-0 ATS as home underdogs.
Chicago is 6-5 ATS as underdogs this season.
The Bears are 8-3 in non-Division games.
Los Angeles is 11-5 ATS as the favorite.
The Rams are 7-6 in Conference games.
Early prediction summary
The Los Angeles Rams possess the MVP favorite, quarterback Matthew Stafford, in their ranks. The Rams have the best offense in the league, and the Davante Adams and Puka Nacua receiving combination is one of the best in the league. L.A.’s defense has, however, given up 30 or more points in three of its last five games.
The Bears are coming into this matchup following an excellent come-from-behind win over the Packers that showed their resilience. Even though the Bears’ defense is allowing nearly 25 points a game, they are the league leaders in interceptions. The win over Green Bay on Sunday was the first playoff win for Ben Johnson as a head coach, and it was also Caleb Williams’ first playoff win. Their overall form and boost in confidence make us believe that Chicago upsets Los Angeles for the win.
I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!
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