The Chicago Bears (3-5) head to square off with the St. Louis Rams (4-4) at Edward Jones Dome this week. The NFL’s fourth-leading rusher, Todd Gurley (664 yards, 4 TDs), is a player to keep an eye on in this game. It will air Sunday, Nov 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
In last week’s game, St. Louis suffered a narrow defeat against the Vikings 21-18. Todd Gurley had a huge game running the ball in the loss, rushing 24 times for 89 yards and one TD. Chicago is looking to repeat last week when it won a tight one against the Chargers 22-19. Martellus Bennett had a good performance for the Bears, grabbing eight receptions for 57 yards and one TD. Alshon Jeffery had a great game as well, adding 151 yards on 10 catches.
The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 42 points and the Bears are a substantial seven-point underdog.
Sitting at 4-4 for both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS), the Rams will look to improve heading into Week 10. In their five most recent matchups, the Rams went 3-2 for both SU and ATS. A focal point of St. Louis’s offense is the running game, which ranks fourth in the league with 135.5 rushing yards per game. The Bears will have a hard time putting up points against St. Louis’s top-five home scoring defense, which gives up 13.8 points per home game. Expect the Rams defense to restrict Chicago’s passing game. The Rams have the fourth-ranked pass defense in the NFL and give up 219.8 passing yards per game. The Rams hope to continue the trend of slugging Chicago’s defense during the second quarter, when they allow nine points per road game. Special teams is a weakness for Chicago that the Rams may use to their advantage. On average, the Bears have allowed 96.5 return yards per road game.
Shifting to the opposition, the Bears head into Week 10 with records of 4-4 ATS and 3-5 SU. Over their last five games, the Bears have a SU record of 3-2 and a 4-1 record ATS. Chicago’s quarterback and wide receivers will look to keep the strong passing attack rolling this week. Over the past five games, they’ve managed an impressive 282.4 yards through the air. Moving on to the Chicago defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. Chicago’s pass defense ranks fifth in the league. This frightening group gives up 220.2 yards per game through the air. The Bears should secure the football against the Rams, who rank near the bottom of the league in fumbles lost per game at home with 1.2. Penalties could lead to trouble for the Rams. They average 73.8 penalty yards per home game, making them one of the most penalized teams in the NFL.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, ATS Winner – Chi, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. Louis’s last 7 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games at home.
St. Louis is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games at home.
St. Louis is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Chicago.
St. Louis is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Chicago.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 10 games when playing Chicago.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago.
St. Louis is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Chicago.
St. Louis is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago.
Chicago is 0-1 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. St. Louis is 4-0 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
This season, St. Louis is 2-2 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The St. Louis passing attack is ranked last in the league, while the Chicago pass defense is ranked fifth. The Bears’ passing game is ranked just 21st, compared to the fourth-ranked pass defense of the Rams.
