Monday Night Football comes tonight from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan as the host Detroit Lions are currently favored by -6.5 over the Chicago Bears with a total of 47.0. Betting odds on this game opened up at Lions -6.0 and 47.0 and the current NFL picks from the public are 67% on Detroit and 63% on the over. This game is a major difference over last season that Chicago won 24-20 when the Bears came in favored by -4.5 at 8-2 as the visitor to play the Detroit Lions who only managed two wins in eleven games. Cantor Gaming in Las Vegas in their preseason line predictions released in June had the game line set at Detroit -1.0, so there is a 5-5.5 point difference off the projection and current number. The game has a start time of 8:30pm ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.
It will be crazy in Detroit tonight as it is their first Monday Football game since they defeated the San Francisco 49ers back in 1995, 27-24 at the Pontiac Silverdome. Toss in the fact the Detroit Tigers will be playing game #2 of the ALCS against the Texas Rangers, this crowd could be crazy by the time the Lions take the field (interesting note: Odds of Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl and the Detroit Tigers winning the World Series preseason? 2250-1) The list of "firsts" and "been forever" for the the Detroit Lions seem endless: The Detroit Lions 4-0 start is first in team history that includes three road wins. Franchise first five consecutive road wins. It is the fifth 4-0 start in team history, previously accomplished in 1934, 1939, 1956 and 1980. The win over the Cowboys extended the their current win streak to eight games (including 8-0-1 against the betting number). It is the longest win streak by the Lions since they won nine in a row in 1953-54 seasons. Even though it seems everything is pointing to a Detroit Lions victory, for betting purposes it is important to point out that home teams on Monday Night Football this season are 1-4 ATS and 77-94 -26.4 units going back to 2001.
The Chicago Bears are almost in a "must-win" situation as a loss to Detroit would put them deeper in the hole for the division title race. Despite a disappointing offensive line (Cutler has been sacked 67 times in 20 regular-season games), RB Matt Forte is vital for Chicago tonight and has been one of the few bright spots for the Bears and fantasy football players alike. The key to this game will be the Chicago Bears defense and whether they can stop the Detroit offense that has been is something out of "Tecmo Super Bowl" in the 2nd half. Even though the Lions are the darling of the NFL right now, we think there is too much value getting +6.5 on the Bears and have a small opinion toward Chicago and the under. Expect public money to come in late and possibly bump this line to Detroit -7.0, which would be huge for Bear's backers due to seven having a value of 13 cents and being the second most important when betting the NFL outside of three.
Free Picks: Bears at Lions Betting
What NFL bettors need to know about Bears at Lions (Monday, October 10, 2011) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Marco D'Angelo and analysis from host RJ Bell.