Since the start of the 2013 season, the New England Patriots are 8-5 straight up and 8-4-1 against the spread over their last 13 preseason games. The Patriots play their final preseason home game of 2016 on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears.
Bears vs. Patriots 2016 odds: New England looks to keep rolling as betting favorites vs Chicago
The New England Patriots will try to follow up a solid preseason home opener with another home win against the Chicago Bears on Thursday.
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New England is a 3.5-point betting favorite at Foxboro according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. This will be New England's tenth straight preseason game going off as the betting favorite.
Bill Belichick opted against protecting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from potential injury in the first game of the preseason, instead getting him plenty of playing time by keeping Tom Brady’s backup in for the entire first half.
Garoppolo passed for 168 yards on 18 pass attempts, failing to record a touchdown pass or an interception over that stretch as New England went on to defeat the New Orleans Saints 34-22. With Brady suspended for the first four games of the season, Belichick will likely look to get Garoppolo even more in-game seasoning this week.
With last week's win over the Saints, the Patriots improved to 4-2 SU and ATS in their last six preseason home games per the OddsShark NFL Database.
The Bears entered this preseason with a 10-5 SU and 8-6-1 ATS record over their last 15 preseason games, but nothing went right in the team’s home opener against the defending Super Bowl champions. Chicago lost to Denver by a score of 22-0, mustering up just 130 yards of total offense across four quarters.
To turn things around this week, the Bears will have to fare better on the road than they have in recent seasons, going just 1-3 SU and ATS in their last four preseason road games while averaging only 13 points per game.
Thursday’s total is set at 41.5 points. The UNDER is 5-2 in New England’s last seven preseason games and 4-0 in Chicago’s last four.
With Chicago trying to build some momentum in John Fox’s second season as head coach and the Patriots hoping to get Jimmy Garoppolo up to form for the regular season, the stage is set for a competitive matchup on Thursday night. New England’s defense scored two touchdowns last week against New Orleans and should be licking its chops going up against this struggling Bears’ offense.
Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots
When: Thursday, August 18, 8:00 p.m. ET
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
