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Saints Receiving a Lot of Bets as Road Underdogs for Second Straight Week, This Time vs Bears

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in NFL Football

Updated Mar 30, 2020 · 10:07 AM PDT

Chiago Bears defense locking arms
Can the Chicago Bears pull together and defeat the New Orleans Saints? Bettors don't think so, as 69.3 percent of against-the-spread bets and 65.4 percent of ATS money is wagered on New Orleans. Photo from Wiki Commons.
  • One sportsbook lists the Chicago Bears as -3.5 favorites at home to beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but the action is on New Orleans
  • The Saints are getting 69.3% of the ATS bets
  • New Orleans is also the play in 65.4% of ATS money wagered at the site


The New Orleans Saints are getting plenty of action this week, and historically, that just might make sense.

The Chicago Bears are coming off their bye week, which could be bad news for the Monsters of the Midway. Chicago is 5-5 straight up and 3-6-1 against the spread since 2010 in the first game back from bye week.

The 5-1 Saints are coming in, rolling right along with four straight wins, and according the numbers reported by one sportsbook, the backing of the bettors. New Orleans is garnering 69.3% of all ATS bets and 65.4% of all ATS money wagered on this game at the site, in their Saints vs Bears odds.

New Orleans Saints vs Chicago Bears Odds

Team Moneyline Spread Over/Under Sportsbook X
New Orleans Saints +178 +3.5 (-105) Over 37.0 (-116)
Chicago Bears -210 -3.5 (-115) Under 37.0 (-104)

Odds taken 10/19/19.

So far this season, NFL teams coming off a bye week are 1-3 SU, but 3-1 ATS.

Numbers With Saints

New Orleans is a solid 4-2 ATS this season. As a road team, they are 2-1 ATS and 2-0 ATS since Week 3, when Teddy Bridgewater replaced the injured Drew Brees as quarterback.

The Bears aren’t nearly as sharp in this department. Chicago is 2-3 ATS. At home, the Bears are only 1-1 ATS.

Bridgewater is 4-0 SU as a starter this season. He was also 3-1 SU against the Bears during his days as starting QB for the Minnesota Vikings.

The Saints second-stringer has proven able to engineer wins in low-scoring, defensive struggles, exactly the style of game that should be expected to emerge from this clash.

He posted a 12-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys and 13-6 verdict against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As well, Bridgewater has been able to step up when needed. He threw for 314 yards and four TDs in a 31-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Two Key Injuries To Monitor

It looks like the Bears will welcome wide receiver Taylor Gabriel back to the lineup. Turbo, as he’s known in Chicago, hasn’t played since his three-TD catch performance in Week 3 against the Washington Redskins. He suffered a concussion later in the same game.

The Saints will be without running back Alvin Kamara, their all-purpose machine. He’s down with knee and ankle injuries.

Starting wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith (ankle) and tight end Jared Cook (ankle) are also out for New Orleans.

Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky (left shoulder) is listed as questionable, but is still expected to play.

Bears Won’t Cover

Without Kamara, Bridgewater will need to create more himself. The Chicago defense is much better than the Tampa Bay unit he sliced up two weeks ago.

The Saints, however, are 14-1 ATS in their last 15 October games. New Orleans is also 4-1 ATS in their last five games as road underdog, as the NFL betting results show from last week’s win at Jacksonville. The Saints are 4-0 SU in their last four against the Bears, including the last two games at Soldier Field.

The total has gone under in five of the Saints’ last six road games. It’s also gone under in eight of Chicago’s last 10 games and five of the last five at home.

This is almost a must-win for the 3-2 Bears, and it always seems that the wise play when two teams are closely matched is to go with the one that needs the win the most.

But this is going to be a tight game, and the score will be low.

Pick: New Orleans Saints +3.5 (-105), Under 37 (-104).

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