Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears Odds
The defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers head to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday at legendary Soldier Field in a Week 2 non-conference showdown. The Steelers will hope that they don’t come out flat after a long layoff. They won in the NFL’s Thursday night opener 13-10 over Tennessee in overtime. The Bears will try to bounce back from a Week 1 loss at Green Bay. They led 15-13 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining before giving up a 50-yard touchdown strike to fall 21-15. Chicago holds a 16-7-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the Steelers have won the last three meetings. NFL lines makers have listed the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 3-point favorite with the total set at 37.5.
The Steelers’ offensive line was a weakness in 2008, but obviously not weak enough to keep them from winning the Super Bowl. Still, the offensive front was dominated at times by Tennessee in Week 1. The unit was only able to help the Steelers pick up 36 yards rushing. QB Ben Roethlisberger was sacked four times, although not all of those were the fault of the line. Still, keeping Roethlisberger and running back Willie Parker healthy are vital to the success of this football team. While overall the boys up front need to show improvement, they should be encouraged by pretty good pass blocking down the stretch. They catch a break this week as Chicago will be without linebacker Brian Urlacher, who will miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury. Here’s a nice tidbit for you: when Big Ben posts a passer rating of 100 or higher, the Steelers are an unstoppable 29-2.
Troy Polamalu was making plays all over the field against the Titans last week, before he suffered a knee injury. The star safety is out indefinitely. He was a huge reason why the Steelers boasted the NFL’s best defense last season. It is worth noting that the Bears are 0-5 against the spread in their last 5 games as an underdog. This streak continued in Week 1.
The Chicago offense did not play well in Week 1 as QB Jay Cutler and the wide receivers were not on the same page. Cutler ended up with four interceptions in his Bears debut and I’ll be interested to see how he bounces back. The Chicago fans are hungry for a championship level football team and you can bet they’ll let Cutler have it if he has another off day. To take some of the pressure off of Cutler, the Bears need to find ways to get the ball into the hands of their best playmaker. Running back Matt Forte was held to just 55 yards rushing and zero yards receiving in Week 1. This is a guy who racked up 1,711 total yards from scrimmage in his rookie season. He is such a valuable receiver and Cutler only targeted him once. Expect Chicago to try to get him out in the flat with some quick-hitting pass plays this week. Defensively, the Bears can take a page out of Tennessee’s game plan: shut down the run and pressure the QB. If the Steelers get their running game going, they are almost impossible to stop.