Weekend best bets: Will Bears continue hot streak vs. Steelers?

As Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers once screamed at Bears fans at Soldier Field, “All my (expletive) life, I still own you.”

Rodgers, who is 25-5 against the Bears in his NFL career, fractured his left wrist in the Steelers’ win over the Bengals last week and his status is uncertain for Sunday’s game at Chicago.

If he can’t play, Mason Rudolph will start in his place. Either way, professional sports bettor Cris Zeniuk is backing the Bears (-2½). Chicago has owned the Steelers, going 12-1 against them at home.

The Bears have won three straight games and seven of eight while going 6-2 against the spread. They lead the NFC North with a 7-3 record.

“You don’t step on the tracks to block the train, you can only lose once riding with a streak,” said Zeniuk (@Lasvegascris). “The Bears have all systems firing, winning five come-from-behind games after trailing in the final two minutes.

“They lead the NFL in turnover differential (plus-16). I’m backing the first-place Bears -144 (on the money line), but this is solid at -3.”

Here are five more weekend best bets (home team in CAPS):

CHIEFS (-3 -120) over Colts

Kansas City is the 15th team since 1990 to be 5-5 or worse and favored over a team with a winning percentage of at least 80 in their 11th game or later (the Colts are 8-2). The previous 14 teams went 14-0 straight up and 12-0-2 against the spread, according to the Action Network’s Evan Abrams.

Pro bettor Randy McKay made the Chiefs his best bet.

“Indianapolis is a hot team coming off a bye. Sometimes a bye is good or bad for teams,” said McKay (@RR39). “Indy had a similar spot here as a dome team outside in November when it went to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago (and lost 27-20). Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense could get well versus an Indianapolis defense without defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.”

Eagles (-3) over COWBOYS

“The Eagles came -6 on the Westgate lookahead line last week. On Sunday, they defeated a Lion team many were calling the best in the conference. Now the line has been slashed in half to -3 after the Cowboys shellacked a Raider bunch that sits 29th in team DVOA,” said Gamblou.com handicapper Lou Finocchiaro, who went 5-0 ATS last week in the Review-Journal NFL Challenge. “The Eagles, ranked sixth in DVOA, catch Dallas off a road ‘Monday Night Football’ game, facing a short week of preparation with a Thanksgiving game, their third in 11 days, on the horizon.”

CARDINALS (+3) over Jaguars

“The Jaguars have been pretty consistent this year but this is a down spot for them,” said Westgate SuperBook vice president of marketing Jay Kornegay, who leads the RJ Challenge with a 33-20-2 ATS mark (62.3 percent). “Outside of last week’s loss to the 49ers, the Cardinals have played tough at home. It feels like another close NFL game, and you get +3 for some insurance.”

Northwestern (-3½) over Minnesota, at Wrigley Field

CBS Sportsline handicapper Bruce Marshall, 9-3 ATS on his RJ best bets, is banking on Northwestern to gain bowl eligibility with a win and cover over Minnesota at Wrigley Field. The Wildcats lost 24-22 to Michigan at the iconic ballpark last week on a field goal by the Wolverines as time expired.

“The Wildcats can turn the trick this week versus a plodding Golden Gophers side that ranks well up the track (126th) in national total offense stats and hasn’t been able to establish the run,” Marshall said. “The gnarly Cats defense should limit the damage from Minnesota, while quarterback Preston Stone and the Northwestern offense should find the Gopher stop unit a bit less threatening than some of the faster defensive platoons (Michigan, USC, Nebraska) that have somewhat impeded the Cats in their last three games.”

Miami (Florida) (-18) over VIRGINIA TECH

Westgate oddsmaker Ed Salmons loves Miami this week after it was ranked 13th in the College Football Playoff rankings despite having a slim chance to even make the ACC championship game.

“The committee obviously likes Miami because they keep putting them in this bracket every week,” he said. “Miami has reason here to not only win but to win by a margin. They need to keep winning by big margins and getting people to take notice of what they’re doing.”

Virginia Tech fired coach Brent Pry on Sept. 14 and hired James Franklin this week to replace him.

“Virginia Tech has had a long year,” Salmons said. “Florida State beat them up last week (34-14) and there’s no reason to think Miami’s not going to go up there and just destroy them.”

Last week: 3-5-1

Season: 53-41-2

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.