Lopsided action at sportsbooks on Bears-Patriots ‘MNF’ game
Outside of Chicago, sportsbooks will be the biggest Bears fans on “Monday Night Football.”
Bettors are all over the New England Patriots, consensus 8½-point home favorites over Chicago. The line has climbed to 9 at South Point and the Golden Nugget books.
“We need the Bears pretty bad,” Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller said in a text Monday afternoon. “Got a ton of parlays and teasers going to Pats. I just went to -9. All public money and accumulation.”
At Station Casinos, 75 percent of the tickets are on the Patriots.
“No question we’ll be Bears fans tonight,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Number is starting to trend up.”
The Westgate SuperBook took some sharp action last week on New England -7.
“When we first opened the game Patriots -7, we saw some sharp players lay it and move us up,” SuperBook director John Murray said. “But nothing I’d call sharp since then.
“Bears outright would be nice but not a real big decision for now.”
The Bears are +310 on the money line at the Westgate and the Patriots are -370.
The total is 40.
“Two-way action on the total,” Esposito said.
The Patriots have a 3-3 under mark and the Bears have a 2-4 under record. New England is seventh in the league in scoring defense, allowing 18.8 ppg, and Chicago is tied for 12th, allowing 19.7 ppg.
The Patriots (3-3 straight up, 3-2-1 ATS) have won two straight games to reach the .500 mark. They beat the Lions 29-0 at home in Week 5 and blew out the Browns 38-15 on the road last week.
A victory would be the 325th of New England coach Bill Belichick’s career, including playoffs, and break a tie with Bears founder George Halas for the second-most wins by a coach in NFL history. Longtime Dolphins coach Don Shula is the all-time leader at 347.
Chicago (2-4 straight up, 2-3-1 ATS) is 30th in the NFL in scoring with an average of 15.5 points per game and last in the league in passing offense with 122.8 yards per game.
The Bears lost 12-7 to the Commanders last time out on Oct. 13 on “Thursday Night Football.” Chicago has lost its last nine prime-time games.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
