Chicago at New Orleans Week 8 NFL Spread & Expert Analysis

Chicago at New Orleans Week 8 NFL Spread & Expert Analysis

Written by on October 26, 2017

Quite the quarterback difference in Sunday’s game in the Big Easy. The Saints’ Drew Brees is a future Hall of Famer who might own nearly every regular-season record by the time he’s done. The Bears’ Mitchell Trubisky makes only his fourth start and he rarely even throws the ball. New Orleans is one of the biggest Week 8 NFL spread favorites on the board. The Saints are -9 in the NFL Week 8 odds.

Chicago at New Orleans Week 8 NFL Spread & Expert Analysis

When: Sunday, 1 PM ET Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans TV: Fox Radio: 780 AM (Chicago) / 870 AM (New Orleans) Stream Option: NFL Live Opening NFL Spread: Saints -9 (47.5)

Weather Forecast

  • Clear: 14°C/58°F
  • Humidity: 39%
  • Precipitation: 0%
  • Wind: 14 mph NW
  • Cloud Cover: 0%
  • Type of Stadium: Indoor

Last Meeting

New Orleans has won the past three meetings. They last played on a Monday night late in the 2014 season in the Superdome and the Saints won 31-15. Brees threw for 375 yards and three scores. Jay Cutler, now in Miami, completed 17 of 31 passes for 194 yards for three picks, and the Bears couldn’t get anything going. They managed only 278 yards.

Series History

  • Total Meetings: 29
  • First Meeting: December 1st, 1968. Tulane Stadium. New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Last Meeting: December 15th, 2014. Soldier Field. Chicago, Illinois
  • All-Time Series: Chicago Bears 15-14-0
  • Largest Margin of Victory: Chicago 39-14 (2007)
  • Longest Win Streak: Chicago 4 (2005-2008)
  • Current Win Streak: New Orleans 3 (2011-2014)

Why Bet On Chicago’s NFL Spread?

The Bears have won two straight for the first time since 2015 and could get to .500 for the first time since 2014 with a win here. They are winning with mirrors, though. Two weeks ago, the Bears won 27-24 in OT in Baltimore even though Trubisky completed just eight passes out of 16. Last week in a 17-3 home upset of Carolina, Trubisky was just 4-for-7 for 107 yards, and 70 of those yards came on one play. Trubisky became the first starting quarterback to win a game with fewer than five completions since the Tim Tebow-quarterbacked Broncos beat the Chiefs by completing 2 of 8 passes. John Fox, the current coach of the Bears, was the coach of the Broncos for that 2011 game. And when Fox coached the Carolina Panthers, he beat the Falcons in 2006 despite his quarterback, Chris Weinke, completing four of seven pass attempts for 32 yards. Why did the Bears beat the Panthers? Rookie safety Eddie Jackson had a 76-yard interception-return touchdown and a 75-yard fumble-return touchdown. Jackson is the first player in NFL history with multiple defensive touchdowns of at least 75 yards in a single game. He is the only rookie in NFL history with two 75-yard defensive touchdowns in a single season.  Rookies have scored 16 touchdowns of at least 45 yards this season, the most such scores through the first seven weeks of a season since 1970. In posting back-to-back wins, the Bears have sacked opposing quarterbacks eight times, forced six turnovers and scored three defensive touchdowns. The Bears traded a seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for wide receiver Dontrelle Inman on Wednesday, although it’s not clear if Inman plays here. Inman has just two catches for nine yards in four games for the Chargers in 2017, but last year Inman had 58 receptions for 810 yards and four touchdowns. Inman actually has more receptions in 2017 than Chicago wideouts Markus Wheaton (1) and Tre McBride (1). Rookie Tanner Gentry has caught 3 balls on the year.

Team Statistics

Offense:
  • Average Score For: 17.43
  • Total Yards: 284.57
  • Pass Yards: 158.57
  • Rush Yards: 126
Defense:
  • Average Score Against: 21.57
  • Total Yards: 301.29
  • Pass Yards: 196.43
  • Rush Yards: 104.86

Why Bet On New Orleans’ NFL Spread?

The Saints have won four straight after looking terrible defensively the first two weeks in losses at the Vikings and vs. the Patriots. Brees completed 27 of 38 passes (71.1 percent) for 331 yards with one touchdown and rushed for a touchdown in the Saints’ 26-17 win at Green Bay last Sunday. Brees threw his 500th career touchdown pass (including the postseason) and is the fourth player in NFL history to reach 500 career touchdown passes (including the postseason), joining Peyton Manning, Brett Favre (552) and Tom Brady (534). In their first 11 seasons with Brees as their quarterback (2006-16), the Saints have had five seasons in which they allowed fewer than 24 points per game. They were 58-22 with a Super Bowl victory in those seasons. In the other six — seasons in which they allowed at least 24 points per game — they went 43-53. Are the Saints a safe bet in Week 8? So far this season, New Orleans is allowing 22.2 points per game, good for just 16th in the league but historically good enough to make it a contender. They started 0-2, allowing more than 1,000 yards, 65 points and an astonishing opponents’ passer rating of 141.4. And during the Saints’ winning streak (which followed an 0-2 start in which they allowed 29 and 36), they’re allowing only 17 points per game. Over the past five weeks, the Saints have held opponents to the lowest passer rating in the NFL (53.6). And they rank among the top four defenses in yards allowed, points allowed and forced turnovers. There are 17 players on the Saints’ defense who weren’t in the league the last time New Orleans had a winning streak as long as its current four-gamer.

Team Statistics

Offense:
  • Average Score For: 28.50
  • Total Yards: 391
  • Pass Yards: 269.33
  • Rush Yards: 121.67
Defense:
  • Average Score Against: 22.17
  • Total Yards: 351
  • Pass Yards: 236.83
  • Rush Yards: 114.17

Betting Trends

 
  • Bears are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games
  • Bears are 6-18 SU in the last 24 games
  • The total went UNDER in 5 of Chicago’s last 7 games
  • Saints are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games
  • Saints are 4-1 SU in the last 5 games
  • The total went OVER in 7 of New Orleans’s last 9 games
 

Expert Prediction & NFL Week 8 Pick

  The Bears are winning with smoke and mirrors. That ends this week. Give the 9 points in the NFL spread.