NFL Betting: Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

NFL / Andy Richmond / 20 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

Philadelphia will be relying on McNabb

"The Eagles and Bears face off at Soldier Field on Sunday night, each trying to avoid a third straight loss, no wonder both teams are describing it as 'must win'."

Play-off hopes could be extinguished by defeat for either of these great rivals. Andy Richmond runs through the odds for the best bets ahead of a very big game

Without Brian Westbrook, the Philadelphia Eagles will rely heavily on Donovan McNabb as they try to get their season back on track this weekend. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, aren't sure how much they can count on their quarterback. The Eagles and Bears face off at Soldier Field on Sunday night, each trying to avoid a third straight loss, no wonder both teams are describing it as 'must win'.

With Westbrook missing LeSean McCoy, his young back up will have to step into the breach here. While McCoy has shown promise this year, coach Andy Reid has appeared hesitant to give him too many carries. The Eagles are best offensively when they have balance, and McCoy is the key to providing that with his running ability.

The Eagles defence didn't play well last week at San Diego and this is a tough spot against a desperate team when you're on the road for a second consecutive week. But they face a quarterback, Jay Cutler, whose ball security is questionable. In three primetime outings this year, the Bears quarterback has thrown a stunning 11 interceptions. While all three of those games were on the road, and this one is at home, Cutler has to do a better job of ball security - especially against an Eagles defence that thrives on forcing turnovers.

Balance has been a real problem for the Bears this year and that has been the function of young running back Matt Forte struggling to find his stride this year behind an offence of line that has lacked aggresion. Much was expected from the second-year rusher after his breakout rookie season, but he seems to lack the explosion he displayed at times in 2008. His ability to get going on the ground will help ease the pressure on Cutler to make plays.

This game is loaded with possible tiebreaker implications, and both teams should be utterly desperate for a win.

Recommendation: Eagles hang tough - 1pt win at Eagles -2.5 at 1.92 or better