Chicago Bears Betting Odds

Grin and Bear it

The Chicago Bears were not a good team last year. They had a 5-11 record, which lead them to fire their head coach and hire former Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy.

Nagy will most likely keep most of the defensive elements that were in place when he took over the Bears, but will look to change the offense quite a bit.

That might mean that this year is another year of struggle for Chicago, as the team adapts to a new offence. The question is how long it will take them to adapt to Nagy's explosive offense style.

In other words, if you are looking to do any Chicago Bears betting this year, keep a close eye on how the offense adapts to the new system in the first couple of weeks.

Defense is key to success

The good news for Nagy is that the defense that he is inheriting was one of the best in the league last year. The Bears were the tenth-rated defense in 2017, and they are retaining most of the personnel from that group.

Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman are the two key players on the defensive line. The duo combined for 98 tackles and 10 sacks last year. They are supported by a solid group of capable players such as 2016 first round draft pick Leonard Floyd and offseason signing Aaron Lynch, who had success under Bears' Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio when the two were in San Francisco.

If the Bear's defense can hold opponents off the board and make up for whatever growing pains that the offense has to go through, the Bears betting odds for 2018 will be interesting. This is a team that could surprise people.

About that offense

Whatever success the 2018 Chicago Bears have on offence will hinge on how well Mitch Trubisky plays under a new system in his second season in the league.

Considered to be one of the best quarterbacks coming out of last year's draft, Chicago took Trubisky with their first pick and Trubisky, despite some ups and downs, showed a great deal of promise as a young quarterback. He broke the record for most passing yards by a Bear's rookie with 2,193 and had the most rushing yards by a Bears quarterback since Kordell Stewart in 2003.

Expect Nagy to do everything in his power to tailor the new offence to Trubisky's strengths. Should Trubisky learn the system in short time and get the right kind of help from his offence, there is no reason why the Bears can't succeed.

So far the Bears have brought in wide receivers Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Bennie Fowler and rookie Anthony Miller. All four are young, talented WRs who are eager for an opportunity to shine in a starting position, which makes for some good internal competition.

But Can They Win?

Our NFL sportsbook has the Bears as one of the two biggest underdogs to win their division this year at +5000. With nowhere to go but up and a lot of young talent, this team will be looking to prove people wrong. They have a mountain to climb in order to gain some respect in this league, but at least the right pieces seem to be falling into place.