{"id":17723,"date":"2011-09-15T13:48:37","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T18:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=17723"},"modified":"2011-09-15T13:48:37","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T18:48:37","slug":"2011-nfl-predictions-chicago-bears-at-new-orleans-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/2011-nfl-predictions-chicago-bears-at-new-orleans-saints-17723\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 NFL Predictions: Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints
\nSunday, 9\/18\/11, 1:00 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX
\nOpening Point Spread:\u00a0 New Orleans -6.5
\nCurrent Betting Line:\u00a0 New Orleans -6.5
\nOpening Total:\u00a0 47
\nCurrent Total: 47.5
\nOdds Courtesy of Bookmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has returned to the team after the passing of his mother earlier this week<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chicago put together one of the more impressive showings of the opening week, handing the Atlanta Falcons a 30-12 defeat as one-point home underdogs.\u00a0 The Bears were led by linebacker Brian Urlacher, who tallied a team-high 10 tackles, but the celebration quickly ended for the star due to the passing of his mother on Monday.\u00a0 \u201cMy priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make arrangements to lay her to rest,\u201d Urlacher commented before leaving the Windy City.\u00a0 He has returned to the team facilities and is listed as questionable for Week 2.\u00a0 Chicago is 17-17 ATS in the last two-plus years of action.<\/p>\n

The Bears wanted to see a big performance out of quarterback Jay Cutler and they got it, as he completed passes to eight different receivers against the Falcons.\u00a0 He\u2019s been known to start fast in September, possessing a 98.8 passer rating during the month as a member of the team, while producing a 6-1 record.\u00a0 Cutler has thrown 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions in those seven contests.\u00a0 Running back Matt Forte also started the season strong, which was a great sign for a player that was upset about not receiving a new contract.\u00a0 He is fourth in the NFL with 4,889 yards from scrimmage since 2008.<\/p>\n

New Orleans dropped a 42-34 contest to the Green Bay Packers as four-point road underdogs in the league\u2019s opening contest.\u00a0 The Saints defense was torched and ranks last in scoring defense entering the week.\u00a0 \u201cWe realize we can be a lot better,\u201d commented Saints cornerback Jabari Greer.\u00a0 The unit really never had a chance in the early going, allowing the Packers to score on four of its first five possessions.\u00a0 It was a disappointing result when finding that the Saints\u2019 offense finished with 477 total yards.\u00a0 New Orleans is 17-20 ATS the past two-plus campaigns.<\/p>\n

The Saints are solely focused on avoiding an 0-2 start to the season, as the team looks to make it back to the Super Bowl after last year\u2019s disappointing exit in the first-round of the playoffs.\u00a0 New Orleans has dropped the last four meetings between the two teams, but has won the yardage battle in the last three.\u00a0 Starting quarterback Drew Brees is a huge part of the team\u2019s success and is coming off a 419-yard performance in the opener.\u00a0 One of his main targets, Marques Colston, will not be in the lineup after suffering a broken collar bone that will keep him out for up to four weeks.<\/p>\n

Bettors will likely back the Bears due to their 5-1-1 ATS mark in Week 2, while the Saints are 8-17 ATS versus the NFC.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on a winning season and let the NFL handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash.\u00a0 Long term packages are available now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints Sunday, 9\/18\/11, 1:00 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX Opening Point Spread:\u00a0 New Orleans -6.5 Current Betting Line:\u00a0 New Orleans -6.5 Opening Total:\u00a0 47 Current Total: 47.5 Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker Chicago put together one of the more impressive showings of the opening week, handing the Atlanta Falcons a 30-12 defeat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":4339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,132],"tags":[5341,359,1034,763,427],"class_list":["post-17723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nfl-handicapping","tag-brian-urlacher","tag-chicago-bears","tag-drew-brees","tag-jay-cutler","tag-new-orleans-saints"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17723","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\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17724,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17723\/revisions\/17724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}