Are the Chicago Bears that good?
Full disclosure, I had a bet on Carolina +3 last Sunday, and if you would’ve told me the Panthers would average 7.7 yards per play and score 37 points, odds were good they would have covered or won the game outright.
Problem is, Chicago scored 59.
FOX Sports posted its weekly power ratings on Monday morning and the Bears were on line three, behind only the Seahawks and Broncos.
I’ve never been one to overreact and third seems insanely high.
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“Third-best offense maybe,” one professional bettor told me. “You can’t be the third-best team with that defense. Not after that performance against a below-average offense. Chicago’s head coach and quarterback have elite potential, but the secondary is an issue and there wasn’t much of a pass rush.
“The Bears’ defense made Bryce Young look great.”
What say you, Las Vegas?
“I have them eighth with room for growth,” retired bookmaker Ed Salmons told me. “Rams, Ravens, Bills, Eagles, Niners, Patriots, Lions, Bears.”
“The Bears looked every bit the part offensively against Carolina,” Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel added. “Caleb Williams showed why he entered the season as one of the league’s brightest stars.
“Market reaction has leaned more toward the Bears being legitimately improved. Their lookahead line moved two points in their favor week over week and bettors also showed support for Carolina against Atlanta.
“My lean is that the Bears are a good football team, but they’ll obviously need to sustain this level of play over several weeks before we can confidently make that distinction.”
Don’t look now, but Williams has the third-shortest NFL MVP odds at multiple sportsbooks. Those 15 and 16-to-1 preseason prices are long gone.
Caleb Williams got a great start to his 2026 MVP campaign (Getty Images).
To college football, there are some serious injury rumblings at Ohio.
QB1 Nick Poulos and QB2 Matt Vezza are both banged up, and RB1 Duncan Brune left Saturday’s game with an injury, too. Sources say Poulos is doubtful for Saturday’s game against South Alabama and Vezza is questionable.
South Alabama was -4.5 everywhere on Monday and the board is now painted -7. Clearly, some people expect the Bobcats to be shorthanded.
“I moved from -5 to -6 when I first heard,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews told me. “You want to get ahead of those injuries [because] these guys don’t anticipate information to interrupt, they only wager.”
If each quarterbacks are ultimately dominated out, this line will undoubtedly spring north of a landing. And having labored on this racket lengthy sufficient, I do know vultures on the opposite aspect shall be ready to take 8 or 8.5 with Ohio.
A 27-20 last could be no bueno for the home.
I obtained a ton of flack on social media — shocker — once I mentioned Ohio State continues to be my highest-rated staff within the nation. I imply, the Buckeyes took a 23-3 lead into the fourth quarter on the street.
That’s spectacular. And sure, they’d nonetheless be favored over Texas on a impartial area. That’s the way it works.
“I feel Ohio State and Georgia are the 2 finest groups within the nation,” Salmons opined. “Notre Dame is correct there with Georgia, too.”
Salmons gave us Ohio State +2 final week, a wire-to-wire winner.
What about this week?
“I wager Houston +8.5 towards Texas Tech.”
Lastly, what the hell goes with Oregon?
This was a Geese staff a number of sharp folks predicted would win the nationwide championship. It beat Boise State by seven as a 25.5-point favourite, then misplaced at Oklahoma State as a 24.5-point favourite.
From the Las Vegas numbers perspective, Oregon is among the most underachieving groups within the nation.
Dan Lanning and the Geese have been lower than spectacular by way of two video games (Getty Pictures).
That mentioned, I would wager the Geese to make the Faculty Soccer Playoff at +160. That quantity was -300 or larger earlier than the season and I don’t bear in mind the final time the general public didn’t love them.
We’re nearing that actuality.
“It hasn’t been nice,” skilled bettor Slice mentioned. “I dropped them three factors after the loss to Oklahoma State. I nonetheless need to see yet one more dangerous sport earlier than I get nuts. And I’m unsure that’s going to occur with [Dan] Lanning.
“I’ll be seeking to wager ‘em at an inexpensive value towards USC.”
