Bears at Packers: Odds, trends, and more
By John Buhler
The Chicago Bears will face the Green Bay Packers for the 192nd time on Thanksgiving Day 2015 at Lambeau Field.
Arguably the best rivalry in the NFL, the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers will be underway for the 192nd time this Thanksgiving. Green Bay defeated Chicago 31-23 at Soldier Field on September 13th earlier this season. The all-time record in this rivalry is 93-92-6, just slightly favoring the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears are 4-6 and though they lost a heartbreaker at home in Week 11 to Brock Osweiler and the Denver Broncos 17-15, the Bears are playing surprisingly competent football for their new coaching staff in 2015. Under the guidance of head coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Adam Gase, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the Bears seem poised to finish better than their 2014 5-11 record.
Green Bay ended their three-game losing streak in Week 11 by handling Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings, 30-13. Green Bay is 7-3 on the year and hold the tiebreaker over the Vikings for the NFC North Division lead. The Packers seem like a lock to make the NFC Playoffs again in 2015, either as the division winner or a Wild Card participant.
Since the game is at Lambeau Field, Green Bay is a 10-point home favorite over the Chicago Bears, according to OddsShark.com. OddsShark has the over/under at 46.5. 53% of bets are going with the Packers and 57% are siding with under.
While Green Bay is likely the better team, having won four straight games over Chicago, the 10-point spread feels a bit high. With the previous matchup between these two foes being decided by eight points at Soldier Field, Green Bay could still win, but Chicago could cover the spread. That is assuming Bears quarterback doesn’t turn into a Lambeau pick machine like he has been in previous meetings with his team’s arch rival.
Kickoff is at 7:30 PM ET at Lambeau Field. The game will be broadcast on NBC for a special version of Thursday Night Football.