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Chicago Bears vs. Dallas Cowboys

Betting Line: Cowboys -8 o/u 41

By

John J. Raspanti

9/19/10

The Bears come into Dallas having escaped with a victory over the Lions 19-14. Quarterback Jay Cutler played very well, completing 23 of 35 passes for 373 yards 2 TD's and 1 interception. The Bears offensive line struggled against the Lions physical front forcing Cutler to run for his life, which he did pretty effectively. His favorite receiver was not a receiver but running back Matt Forte who caught 7 passes for 151 plus the game winning touchdown with less then five minutes to go. Devin Aromashodu grabbed 5 passes and tight end Greg Olsen 4. The Bears generated 463 yards in offense but still scored only 19 points. Are you wondering why?

Turnovers...Forte and Olsen fumbled near the red zone killing drives and Cutler lost the ball near midfield. On the positive side their defense played very well...until the end of the game. Lance Briggs was a beast leading the team with 9 tackles followed by Brian Urlacher with 8 plus a sack. Multimillion dollar DE Julius Peppers had a couple of tackles and one huge sack causing a fumble. Cornerback Charles Tillman intercepted a wayward pass in the third quarter.

The Cowboys came into Washington with all kinds of questions and left with fewer answers. Like the Bears their offensive line is in disarray, but it's injuries that are killing them. Quarterback Tony Romo looked like a guy dodging bombs against the Skins last week. Romo managed to play well though, completing 31 of 47 passes for 282 yards and a score. Marion Barber and Felix Jones ran effectively when they got the chance, and Miles Austin grabbed 10 passes...but the Cowboys were basically unable to sustain a drive all night. Then when it appeared that they had pulled the game out, they made a huge mistake which negated the last second victory. 

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The Cowboy defense played much better then their offense holding Donovan McNabb to 171 yards through the air and Clinton Portis to 63 yards on the ground. Chris Cooley and Santana Moss caught 6 passes each but neither one of them was able to break a long one.

Most of the Bears feel pretty fortunate to be 1-0 right now. Their offensive line needs to run block and make some holes for Forte and Chester Taylor. To beat the Cowboys they will need most everything to go right and Jay Cutler to play extremely well.

The line on this game opened up Dallas -9.5 and the early money has been on the Bears as the line has dropped to -8. We agree with this move. The Bears may be lucky to be 1-0, but the Cowboys certainly didn't show enough last week to warrant them being an 8 point chalk. This line is based on the past, unfortunately, the games are played in the present. Bears +8