2021 Chicago Bears Betting Preview: Odds, Lions, & Predictions

2021 Chicago Bears Betting Preview

The Bears might have found their first franchise quarterback in team history when they selected Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick.

But first, they are stuck with Andy Dalton, some solid weapons around him, and an outstanding defense. Andy Dalton isn’t the worst quarterback to have, he is a competent to above-average quarterback.

But what the Bears really need is a superstar quarterback because the rest of the team is already there.

The defense is the star unit of the team because they have monsters on that side of the ball like Khalil Mack, Akeem Hicks, Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan, and Eddie Jackson. This defense has been carrying this team for years, but it’s not because of the weapons on the outside on in the backfield.

Allen Robinson is a spectacular wide receiver and players like TE Jimmy Graham, WR Darnell Mooney, free-agent WR Damiere Byrd, and RB David Montgomery have shown they can put points on the board when they get the ball.

The issue with the Bears is their quarterback and I have a feeling that Andy Dalton’s leash is going to be short this year because head coach Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace’s jobs are on the line this season.

2020 Chicago Bears Team Stats

• Points For: 383
• Points Against: 379
• Passing Yards Per Game: 228.4
• Rushing Yards Per Game: 102.9
• Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 231.6
• Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 113.4
• Key Offseason Transactions

The highlight of the Bear’s offseason was selecting QB Justin Fields with their first-round pick.

The city of Chicago has been starving to get a good quarterback they can root for and they might have gotten him through the draft. Fields is a big-armed quarterback with the fastest 40-yard dash of a quarterback in the past 10 years. Fields is probably the better talent in their QB depth chart but he will be competing with QB Andy Dalton in camp with the presumed starter being Dalton.

The Bears also lost a great cornerback in Kyle Fuller which will be a huge blow for their secondary but they did add WR Damiere Byrd, who should add some speed on the outside to make up for the loss of Cordarelle Patterson.

2020 Chicago Bears Betting Stats

• Record: 8-9
• MOV: -0.6
• ATS: 8-8
• ATS +/-: +2.1
• Over/Under: 8-8
• Total +/-: -4

2021 Chicago Bears Betting Outlook

The Bear’s betting splits were the epitome of how the Bears performed last season.

They were average on both ATS and the over/under, and their MOV of -0.6 really hammered home the point that they were a fraud playoff team.

I don’t expect much from the Bears if Justin Fields is not playing. Andy Dalton might be able to keep them in games, but he does not have the all-world talent that Fields has.

I expect unders with the Bears because of their awesome defense and a struggling offense under the Nagy regime. I don’t expect any fireworks or noise out of the Bears without Fields as the quarterback and they should be pretty boring and bad until he’s the starter.

Chicago Bears Super Bowl Odds

The Bears have below-average odds to win the Super Bowl at +5000.

These are the 12th worst odds in the entire league, which is pretty disrespectful but fair by the oddsmakers.

The Bears looked lifeless on offense last year and I don’t have high expectations for that offense this year. The offensive line and quarterback play was poor and Allen Robinson and David Montgomery can’t carry an entire offense by themselves.

Their defense is their saving grace, but they will need to play like the 2000’s Ravens if they want to sniff the playoffs.

Matt Nagy better find some solutions for the offense fast because he is on the hottest seat in the league and he will be gone if the Bears struggle this season.

Chicago Bears Playoff Odds

The Bears are not supposed to make the playoffs in 2021.

Their odds to make the playoffs are +200 while their odds to miss the playoffs are -250.

This is because they will most likely not win the division and not win enough games to claim one of three coveted wildcard spots. In the NFC North, they are the third-best team behind the Vikings and Packers. Even if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t play for the Packers this season, the Packers are still a more talented and better-coached team than the Bears. The Vikings are too good on offense and defense to fall behind the Bears in the division standings.

As for the wildcard, the Bears are not even close to one of the best teams competing for a spot as the 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, and Saints are all better than the Bears. It’s going to be tough sledding for the Bears this season and I would bet on the odds that they miss the playoffs if I were you.

Chicago Bears Win Total Odds

Chicago is going to have a losing season after a season where they made the playoffs.

Vegas has the line of total wins at 7.5 with the under having -125 odds and the over having +103 odds.

Looking at their schedule, we can see that it’s going to be bear hunting season all year long. The Bears have to play their own division mates twice as well as the Rams, Bengals, Browns, Raiders, Buccaneers, 49ers, Steelers, Ravens, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Giants.

This is a tough schedule for a struggling team and I can’t find many games where the Bears know they are going to win before the season starts. The Bears might be slept on by others, but unless they prove me otherwise, I expect the under of 7.5 wins to cash out in 2021.

Chicago Bears Players Future Odds

The only players that give Bears’ fans hope happen to be on their defense.

A special shoutout should go to Justin Fields because he is in the OROY conversation with the second-best odds to win the award at +550. Only the 1st overall pick in Trevor Lawrence has better odds and the only edge that Lawrence has over Fields is that we know that Lawrence will be the starter in Week 1. Unless you think that Fields can claim the starting role early in the season, I would not put my money on him because of the uncertainty we have with his playing time.

Now onto the defense where Chicago has one of the top candidates to win the DPOY. Khalil Mack looks like a man among boys on the football field and he has +1750 odds to win the award. These are the seventh-best odds in the league and Mack has a legit case to win it. Mack is a sack machine and the best player on the Bears, so if his sack count is high by the end of the season, we could see him winning the award.