Vegas Odds: Chicago Bears vs Houston Texans |
Despite coming off a comeback victory against the Tennessee Titans in their season opener, the Chicago Bears are 6.5-point underdogs going against the Houston Texans on Sun. Sept. 15 (7:20 pm/NBC). The over/under for this game is 45.5, according to DraftKings.
In the last game, the Bears just hit the under with 41 total points scored. Houston is a stronger offense than the Titans. However, Chicago was one of the best defenses in the league, and that cannot be overlooked going into this game. For the Bears, they will most likely be short at least one of their wide receivers with both rookie Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen not practicing Wednesday or Thursday. Thus, they should not be expected to put up too many points. Therefore, the under seems like the best bet for the second week in a row. Chicago has not won a Sunday Night Football game since Oct. 8, 2020, when they beat quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19. However, they have not lost to the Houston Texans since September of 2016. With Chicago’s defensive power, the Bears should keep the game close. Thus, the Bears seem poised to cover the 6.5-point spread in this matchup. Going to individual player props, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams currently has an over/under of 215.5 passing yards. He only had 93 passing yards against Tennessee and that was with all three of his top receivers available. Odunze has a knee injury that head coach Matt Eberflus is calling day-to-day, while Allen appeared to aggravate a heel injury that was bothering him before the season opener. Eberflus seemed more optimistic about Allen’s availability than Odunze’s availability. So, except for Williams to be short, at least one of his top receivers. That said, the top receiver for the Chicago Bears last week was DJ Moore, who is perfectly healthy. So, Williams most likely will have more than 93 receiving yards. However, with Odunze and Allen both injured, it does not seem likely that Williams will hit 216 or more yards. Thus, the best move is to take the under on his passing yards. Considering that, it also does not seem likely he will have under 100 yards again as his 93 yards last week was a few plays away from being far greater with a few overthrown balls, particularly on deep passes. Therefore, he should have at least 150 passing yards, but not enough to cover the spread. Moore has an over/under of this game of 62.5 receiving yards. While he only had 36 receiving yards last game, it is highly unusual for Moore to have that few yards particularly when he was targeted eight times in that game. Especially with the health of Odunze and Allen in question, Moore will be Williams’ go-to receiver against Houston. Therefore, except for Moore to hit the over on receiving yards. Running back D’Andre Swift has an over / under for rushing yards of 42.5. He only had 30 rushing yards last game. Houston managed to hold running back Jonathan Taylor with the Indianapolis Colts to 50 rushing yards last week. Swift’s situation is much different, however. The Bears will need to rely on the run game far more than the Colts had to because they were able to rely heavily on their passing game. With a rookie quarterback going against a talented defense in the Texans, Chicago will not be willing to do that. Swift accounted for almost half of Chicago’s rush attempts last game with 10; Williams had five while four other players made up the other seven attempts. Thus, Swift is the clear No. 1 running back and should hit the over on his rushing yards with over 42.5. Same Game Parlay In a same-game parlay on DraftKings of Chicago covering the 6.5-point spread, the game hitting the under of 45.5 points, Williams having greater than 150 passing yards, Moore having greater than 60 receiving yards, and Swift having greater than 40 rushing yards, a $5 bet would pay out $52.50.
