By now, if you’ve been reading these articles and haven’t placed any wagers on any of the suggested props, I’m not sure what you’re doing. That isn’t to say that I’m some tout guaranteeing victories each week, but the record speaks for itself. I’ve been in a groove this year and we are coming off another 2-1 week that pushes our season total to 26-13 on the year.
This week, it’s the Detroit Lions at the Chicago Bears, and it’ll be tough to have statistics that reflect the Bears having a big game, but if you’re going to watch them struggle on Sunday, here are some opportunities to make a little cash. Lines courtesy of FanDuel.
Sam LaPorta OVER 45.5 Receiving Yards -114
I think we can all agree that LaPorta is one of the best tight ends in the league. The Bears allowed two touchdowns to LaPorta in their previous week, although LaPorta was only targeted around the goal line so he didn’t have a big yardage day. Since Matt Eberflus has been gone, the Bears have given up 151 yards to George Kittle and another 52 to TJ Hockensen. Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards are both struggling to cover right now and Eric Washington isn’t helping. LaPorta is in line to have a strong day.
D’Andre Swift OVER 56.5 Rushing Yards -114
Before last week, the Bears’ rushing attack was struggling, but it performed much better against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. The Bears totaled 113 rushing yards and a 3.9-yards per carry clip and that isn’t All-Pro worthy, that was against a Vikings defense that has given up the second least amount of yards on the ground in the league. I think the loss of Alim McNeill is gigantic for the Lions. I can’t see their run defense not taking a hit because of that this week. Roschon Johnson does return but I don’t know if we see a huge workload for him. I think Swift still has 15 or 16 carries and with McNeil out, he can keep his yards per carry over 4 this week and top the number.
Jahmyr Gibbs OVER 91.5 Rushing Yards -114
In the movie Tin Cup, Roy McAvoy rides his hot hand on day two of the US Open until he parks one in the water on 18. Roy turns to his caddie and says, “Well, you ride her until she bucks you, or you don’t ride her at all.” I will always heed that advice when gambling. We‘ve hit a Bears over with rushing yards on the opponent’s running back for seven consecutive weeks. With Montgomery out, that’s a pretty giant meatball out there for Gibbs to go over but this Bears’ defense is in disarray and it’s going to be cold in Chicago on Sunday. I’m not sure if Gibbs cracks this number (although he could easily go well past it with a couple of big runs), but we would rather ride this streak one too long than give up on it too soon. We say Gibbs goes over this mountain.