The San Francisco 49ers will visit the Chicago Bears on Sunday in an NFL matchup of teams with a combined 3-19 record this season. The 49ers will enter this game on the heels of 10 straight losses while Chicago hasn’t been much better after dropping three in a row and six of their last seven.
Moneyline: Chicago -125
Handicap/Spread Odds: CHI -1.5
Total O/U: 43.5
Last 5 Meetings: (Road/Home – Spread/Total)
| 12/06/15 | SF 26 – CHI 20 | SF 6 | O 43 |
| 09/14/14 | CHI 28 – SF 20 | CHI 7 | O 47 |
| 11/19/12 | CHI 7 – SF 32 | SF -3.5 | O 34.5 |
| 11/12/09 | CHI 6 – SF 10 | SF – 3.5 | U 43 |
| 10/29/06 | SF 10 – CHI 41 | CHI -16 | 0 41.5 |
On The 49ers Side of the Ball (1-10 Record, 3-8 ATS)
San Francisco registered 475 total yards of offense in last week’s loss to the Dolphins and while it wasn’t enough, it is certainly something to build on. Colin Kaepernick threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for an additional 113 yards in the loss. The fact that he accounted for 409 total yards of offense on his own despite a relative lack of weapons around him is pretty impressive. Based on his work this season, the 49ers should feel confident in his potential moving forward. The key will be rebuilding elsewhere – in particularly, on defense, where San Francisco has been an absolute mess. The 49ers have allowed at least 30 points in six of their last seven losses and until they start to slow down opposing teams their win-loss record will continue to slide.
Last 5 Results:
| 11/27/16 | @ MIA | L 24-31 | W 7.5 | O 44.5 |
| 11/20/16 | NE | L 17-30 | L 10.5 | U 51.5 |
| 11/13/16 | @ ARI | L 20-23 | W 13.5 | O 46.5 |
| 11/06/13 | NO | L 23-41 | L 5 | O 53 |
| 10/23/16 | TB | L 17-34 | L -1 | O 45 |
On The Bears Side of the Ball (2-9 Record, 4-7 ATS)
Chicago’s defense hasn’t been much better of late with an average of 28.0 points allowed per game over their last three losses. The Bears are in a similar position to San Francisco with a major lack of talent on the defensive side of the football really hurting them. It won’t get better this week as they lost another started to injury: linebacker Danny Trevathan.
Meanwhile, Chicago is in an even worse position on offense without its top two quarterbacks as they have turned to Matt Barkley to lead their offense. Barkley threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns last week but he also had two interceptions. It’s going to be hard to trust Barkley on a week-to-week basis -especially with a major lack of talent around him right now.
Last 5 Results:
| 11/27/16 | TEN | L 21-27 | W 6.5 | O 41.5 |
| 11/20/16 | @ NYG | L 16-22 | W 7 | U 41.5 |
| 11/13/16 | @ TB | L 10-36 | L -2.5 | O 45 |
| 10/31/16 | MIN | W 20-10 | W 4.5 | U 39.5 |
| 10/20/16 | @ GB | L 10-26 | L 7.5 | U 46.5 |
Quick Analysis
The Bears have covered the spread in three of their last four games and they have been a lot better at home than on the road overall this season. Chicago is 2-2 in its last four home games with a 3.5 average margin of defeat in those two losses.
Meanwhile, the 49ers have covered two of their last three overall and could be in line to keep this game close despite their struggles on the road. San Francisco has played some pretty good quarterbacks over its last four games (Ryan Tannehill, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Drew Brees) and they could get a break if they get to play Barkley this week.
Prediction
This is a matchup of two bad teams but both have been better of late. The Bears have been very competitive at home as they are 2-3 at home and could have easily won last week, and fell 17-16 to the Jaguars at home earlier in the year. They’ve been in every single home game.
As for the 49ers, they were lifeless under Blaine Gabbert but Colin Kaepernick has given the team a shot in the arm and has steadily improved over the last six games. Last week, he accounted for 409 yards alone.
Even so, the 49ers defense is a train wreck and this is a tough spot for them. Being a West Coast team, this is an early start for them at 1:00 PM ET. On top of that, this is their second consecutive road game and third in their last four. Fatigue could be a factor. Look for the Bears to lean on their rookie running back Jordan Howard fairly heavily in this spot as he leads the way to a win.
Pick: Bears -1.5
Note: Lines subject to change leading up to kick-off, so please be aware of the possibility of line movements.
