{"id":11829,"date":"2010-12-23T02:57:50","date_gmt":"2010-12-23T07:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=11829"},"modified":"2010-12-23T02:57:50","modified_gmt":"2010-12-23T07:57:50","slug":"nfl-handicappers-take-on-bears-vs-jets-game-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/nfl-handicappers-take-on-bears-vs-jets-game-preview-11829\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Handicappers Take on Bears Vs Jets Game Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Jets at Chicago Bears, Soldier Field, Chicago,\u00a0 IL
\nSunday, December 26, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: CBS
\nOpening Line: Bears -1.5
\nCurrent Line: Bears -1
\nOpening Total: 37
\nCurrent Total: 36.5
\nMoney Line: Bears -120 \/ Jets +100<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bears
Chicago's Devin Hester set an NFL record with his 14th kick return for a touchdown on Monday night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some could argue that this is the perfect letdown spot for the Chicago Bears (10-4) after becoming the first team in the NFL to clinch their division on national television Monday night.\u00a0 But the Bears (-1) still have a lot to play for in the final two games of the season and need to beat the New York Jets (10-4) on Sunday to finish with a winning record at home.<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s 40-14 rout of Minnesota improved the team\u2019s record in the NFC North to 5-0, ensuring that Green Bay would not be able to win the division after the Packers lost at New England on Sunday night.\u00a0 Now the Bears are aiming for at least the #2 seed in the conference, which would give them a bye and one less round in the playoffs if they can just win out.<\/p>\n

It will not be easy though against a New York team that still needs a victory to clinch a playoff berth despite pulling off an impressive 22-17 upset win at Pittsburgh last week.\u00a0 The Jets beat the Steelers by playing their game of running the ball and tough defense, which included a key safety with 2:38 remaining that prevented Pittsburgh from tying the game with a field goal.<\/p>\n

Second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez was not overly impressive but also did not make any mistakes, completing 19 of 29 passes for 170 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.\u00a0 Sanchez was aided by a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Brad Smith to start the game and then ran for a seven-yard touchdown off a bootleg play with 5:14 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 17.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s offensive strength remains the running game, but LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene combined for just 89 yards on 23 carries against the Steelers.\u00a0 They will be facing the NFL\u2019s third-ranked run defense in Chicago and may need to rely on Sanchez more in this game.\u00a0 Sanchez is dealing with a sore shoulder that could become a factor if the Bears pass rush can get to him.<\/p>\n

Chicago knocked Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out with a concussion in the second quarter of their latest victory, which helped the team forget about a brutal 36-7 loss to New England in the last home game.\u00a0 Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had a passer rating over 100 for the third time in four games with 194 yards, three touchdowns and one interception against Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Jets head coach Rex Ryan has already said he will not kick to Chicago\u2019s Devin Hester, who set a league record with his 14th kick return for a touchdown when he ran 64 yards for a score off a punt return against the Vikings.\u00a0 However, that strategy could also benefit Cutler and the Bears offense if New York does not kick deep and gives the opposition solid field position.<\/p>\n

The Jets have been held to a combined 13 points in losing the last two meetings with Chicago, and the UNDER has cashed in the last seven games between the teams.\u00a0 Like the Bears, New York is 6-1 on the road this season, going 5-2 against the spread.<\/p>\n

Now that you have read this football betting preview featuring the Bears & Jets, make sure to check out the NFL lines on this and all the games to compare the best odds at multiple sportsbooks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Jets at Chicago Bears, Soldier Field, Chicago,\u00a0 IL Sunday, December 26, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: CBS Opening Line: Bears -1.5 Current Line: Bears -1 Opening Total: 37 Current Total: 36.5 Money Line: Bears -120 \/ Jets +100 Some could argue that this is the perfect letdown spot for the Chicago Bears (10-4) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":4331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,132],"tags":[4247,359,2539,2508,356,1930,1922],"class_list":["post-11829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nfl-handicapping","tag-bears-jets-preview","tag-chicago-bears","tag-football-betting","tag-free-nfl-pick","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl-odds","tag-nfl-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11830,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11829\/revisions\/11830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}