NFL Week 14 Betting – Road-Warrior Cowboys Face Bears at Soldier Field

Dallas Cowboys (-3.5, 51) at Chicago Bears

Thanksgiving was a debacle for Dallas. The Cowboys were three-point home favorites against the Eagles in a pivotal game for the NFC East lead. But, from the opening kick, they were dominated in every phase of the game and were ultimately routed 33-10, dropping their home record to 3-4.

The good news for Dallas fans is that the Cowboys (8-4, 5-0 away) are still firmly in the playoff hunt and, this week, return to the road.

Unfortunately, being in the hunt in December has rarely been sufficient for quarterback Tony Romo, who has long struggled in key games down the stretch. The veteran signal caller has a 12-17 record in December and knows the pressure is on him to get the job done this year. Step one for Romo and company is a win Thursday night against the Chicago Bears (5-7, 2-3 home) at Soldier Field.

Romo said, “This is an important game, it’s the biggest game we’re playing to this point and it’s going to be that way from here on out. We need to go get a win in Chicago.

“More than anything, it’s time to start playing our best football and our football team needs to understand that. The sense of urgency is now, and I think that it’s time to take the next step.”

One thing the Cowboys have been able to rely on all year is the running game; DeMarco Murray leads the NFL with 1,427 yards (averaging 5.0 yards per carry) and has added eight TDs. Coach Jason Garrett may lean toward the passing game, though, as the Bears defense allowed Matthew Stafford to look un-Stafford-like on Thanksgiving, going 34-for-45 for 390 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks. That game was just the latest in blemish for the Chicago pass-defense, which is ranked 30th in the NFL.

Publicly, the downward spiral of the Bears is tied to quarterback Jay Cutler, who had two touchdowns and two picks against the Lions. However, running back Matt Forte stressed the issue is larger.

He said, “I could stand here all day and talk about it. I’m not going to point the finger or nothing like that. There’s a thousand things you can talk about, penalties, all kind of stuff, shooting ourselves in the foot a lot of times.

“The talent we have on the team, we’re definitely underachieving right now. Some guys got to do some soul-searching for the rest of the season to plan on how they’re going to play the rest of these games.”

Nevertheless, it’s been a trying season for Bears, which now face a Dallas team that is undefeated on the road. Considering the recent offensive struggles of both squads, think about the under (51) for this Thursday night game.

(Photo credit: Mike Morbeck (flickr) “Chicago Bears” [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)