NFL picks: The Chicago Bears are half of a team and need to quickly rebuild their once strong defense during the preseason to compliment an offense that showed significant improvement last year. The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the worst values on the NFL board last year and have the need to use preseason to improve in all aspects of their game and groom first round draft pick Blake Bortles into a capable starting QB. The Bears will host the Jaguars at Soldier Field on Thursday night with coverage on ESPN starting at 8 PM ET.
Jags Impress in Opener
The Jaguars are coming off a 16-10 home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as 2.5 point favorites as the game stayed under the total of 35.5. Bortles had a successful debut at QB as he was 7/11 passing for 117 yards and was not intercepted. Chad Henne and Ricky Stanzi also saw action at quarterback. Denard Robinson was also impressive as he scored a game winning 23 yard touchdown run and had a total of 36 yards rushing on seven carries. The Jags defense forced two turnovers.
Bear Market
The Bears were also impressive in their preseason opener as they scored a 34-28 home win over the Philadelphia Eagles as one point dogs with the game soaring over the total of 41.5. The Bears offense was in top forms as they accumulated a total of 399 yards passing to go with 92 yards rushing. The problem remains a defense that allowed 283 yards passing last week as well as surrendering 76 yards on 18 carries on the ground. Jimmy Clausen is trying to rebuild his career and earn a spot as a backup QB to Jay Cutler, who is coming off his best season as a pro. Clausen passed for 7/13 and 150 yards with two TD’s last week. Jordan Palmer threw for 8/11 and 104 yards with a TD. Cutler was sharp in limited action passing for 9/13 and 85 yards with a TD.
Our Pick
The Bears have become a reliable over team with their high octane offense and lack of a strong defense and were 12-4 over the total last year. The Bears have gone over the total in four out of their last five preseason games and we like this one over the total.
