NFC Conference Matchup
Point Spread: Bears -3 | Total Points: 37.5
Coming into this week’s NFC matchup vs the Bears, the Falcons have a below .500 record at 7-8. After their 29-10 win over the Colts, the Falcons will look to pick up another win in week 17. Given that they were favored by 3 against the Colts, the Falcons picked up an ATS win. In the matchup with Indianapolis, the pre-game over/under line was 44.5. The under hit, as they combined for 39 points.
Coming into this week’s NFC matchup vs the Falcons, the Bears have a below .500 record at 6-9. The Bears are coming off a win in their last game, where they beat the Cardinals with a score of 27-16. Since they were favored by 4.5 against the Cardinals, the Bears secured an ATS victory. Going into the game, the over/under line was 42.5 points with Arizona, the teams exceeded the over/under line of 43.
Atlanta Falcons vs. Chicago Bears History
The Falcons and Bears faced off one time last season, with the Falcons picking up a 27-24 win. With a combined 51 points, the Falcons and Bears surpassed the over/under line of 48.5. The Falcons covered the spread in this matchup. In the win, the Falcons racked up 280 yards of total offense compared to the Bears at 288. The Falcons rushed for 149 yards and threw for 131 in the game.
But over the last three times playing each other, the Falcons have a record of 2-1. However, against the spread, the Bears went 2-1. The over/under record in these matchups was 2-1 on an average of 48 points per game.
Notable Injuries
Atlanta Falcons
- Drew Dalman – Ankle (Questionable)
- Taylor Heinicke – Ankle (Questionable)
- David Onyemata – Ankle (Questionable)
- Lorenzo Carter – Neck (Questionable)
- Chris Lindstrom – Ankle (Questionable)
- Barry Wesley – Undisclosed (Out)
- Ikenna Enechukwu – Leg (Out)
- Josh Ali – Ankle (Out)
- Jacob Saylors – Undisclosed (Out)
- Troy Andersen – Arm (Out)
- Adetokunbo Ogundeji – Foot (Out)
- Avery Williams – Knee (Out)
- Feleipe Franks – Foot (Out)
- Matt Hennessy – Knee (Out)
- Ethan Greenidge – Leg (Out)
- Kaleb McGary – Knee (Questionable)
- Kentavius Street – Shoulder (Out)
- Grady Jarrett – Knee (Out)
- Keith Smith – Ankle (Out)
- Jake Matthews – Knee (Questionable)
Chicago Bears
- Darnell Mooney – Concussion (Questionable)
- Lucas Patrick – Knee (Questionable)
- Cole Kmet – Knee (Questionable)
- Yannick Ngakoue – Ankle (Out)
Keys To Victory: Atlanta Falcons
As the Falcons prepare to take on Chicago, they will be looking to put together a better performance in the passing game than their season average so far. Taylor Heinicke has the team ranked 22nd in passing yards per game and is ranked 42nd among quarterbacks in yards through the air. In terms of attempts, Atlanta is averaging 30.9 per game. Atlanta will need to continue getting receiver Drake London involved, as he has caught 61 balls for a total of 808 receiving yards so far this year. The Atlanta rushing attack isn’t to blame for the team’s mediocre scoring numbers, as they are above the league average in both yards per attempt (4.1) and yards per game (129.8).
Keys To Victory: Chicago Bears
Justin Fields and the Chicago passing attack come into the game ranked just 21st in passing attempts. This below-average figure has led to Fields throwing for a total of 2146 yards on a completion percentage of 60.9%. The team’s top receiver, DJ Moore, has caught 83 passes and has accumulated 1,141 receiving yards this season. Points have been hard to come by for the Chicago offense despite the team averaging 4.5 yards per carry, good for 6th in the league. On average, the Bears are averaging 142.1 yards per game on the ground.
Betting Trends
- Across their five previous road games, Atlanta has an ATS mark of 2-3. Their straight-up record in these matchups was 2-3 while averaging 16 points per game.
- Chicago has a 1-2 record in their last three home games. In this stretch, they averaged 18 points per game while allowing 20. The team also performed well vs the spread at 2-1.
- Looking back on the team’s last ten games as the underdog, the Falcons have a straight-up record of 2-8. Their record vs the spread in these games was 3-7.
- Looking back on the team’s last ten games as the favorite, the Bears have a straight-up record of 8-2. Their record vs the spread in these games was 5-3-2.
Prediction
- Chicago Bears 20 – Atlanta Falcons 17
