Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers Spread

The Chicago Bears (7-7) will try to avoid a fifth straight loss when they visit the Green Bay Packers (13-1) on Christmas.

Odds makers aren’t giving the Bears much of a chance, listing them as a 13-point underdog with the total set at 44.

It’s been all down hill for Chicago since losing starting quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb. It has lost four in a row since winning five straight from Oct. 16-Nov. 20.

The Bears only managed 221 yards of offense and committed five turnovers in last Sunday’s 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Caleb Hanie’s struggles continued. The backup quarterback completed just 10 of 23 passes for 111 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Kahlil Bell, who led the team with five receptions and 43 receiving yards, hauled in Hanie’s touchdown toss. Bell also led the way on the ground with 65 of the team’s 132 rushing yards.

The Packers are coming off their first loss in a year. They won 19 straight dating back to Dec. 26, 2010 before falling 19-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Aaron Rodgers completed 17 of 35 passes for 235 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and was sacked four times. He also rushed for a score.

Three completions went to Jermichael Finley, who led the team with 83 receiving yards. Donald Driver hauled in the touchdown pass.

Ryan Grant led the ground attack with 66 of the team’s 102 rushing yards.

The Bears will have no chance to pull off the upset if they don’t take better care of the football. They have committed 12 turnovers while only forcing five during their four-game skid. Compare that to the plus-eight turnover margin they had during their five-game winning streak.

Chicago could have trouble hanging onto the football against a Green Bay defense that is one of the most opportunistic units in the league.

The Packers lead the NFL with 27 interceptions – six more than the next closest team (San Francisco). They could be poised to add to that number this week against a Chicago team that has 10 interceptions in its last four games.

Nine of those interceptions were thrown by Hanie, who is expected to be replaced by Josh McCown this week.

The Packers have won the last three in this series with the most recent being a 27-17 victory in Chicago on Sept. 25, 2011. They’re in good position to continue their dominance over the struggling Bears with this one being playing at Lambeau Field, where the Packers are 6-0 this season and are winning by an average of 22 points.

As far as the total is concerned, the under has been the play. These two have finished below the posted number in each of the last eight matchups.

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