Thursday, November 18, 2010

Chicago Bears at Miami Dolphins

Chicago Bears at Miami Dolphins
Thursday, 8:20 pm Eastern – NFL Network

The Miami Dolphins are down to their third string quarterback but they are still favored at home on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears. The Dolphins lost Chad Pennington and Chad Henne to injuries last week and both are out. Pennington is out for the NFL betting season while the prognosis on Henne is up in the air. Third string quarterback Tyler Thigpen came in last week and played well in Miami’s win over Tennessee and he will get the start on Thursday night.

Miami is a 1 point favorite with a total of 39.5 at SBG Global.

The Dolphins were not getting much out of Henne at the quarterback position anyway so Thigpen may not be any worse. Pennington was given the starting job but his return lasted just two plays before he was knocked out with an injury that probably will end his career. Thigpen is not your average third-string quarterback. He started a couple of years ago for the Chiefs and he has some talent. He went 4 for 6 for 64 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano in last week’s win. The victory was huge for Miami as it got them above the .500 mark. Now they need to beat the Bears to put themselves in a position to challenge for a playoff spot.

Chicago comes into the NFL betting game tied for the NFC North lead at 6-3. The Bears are second in the league in scoring defense and first in turnovers. Their defense throttled Minnesota last week in a 27-13 win. Even the Chicago offense played well last week as they gained 360 yards.

This will be the first meeting between the Bears and Dolphins since 2006 when Miami went into Soldier Field and won 31-13. Here are more football betting stats for Thursday’s game. The Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog. The Bears are 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 games as a road underdog. The Dolphins are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Dolphins are 6-25 ATS in their last 31 games as a home favorite

The Under is 6-1 in the Bears last 7 games overall. The Under is 6-2 in the Bears last 8 road games. The Over is 10-1-1 in the Dolphins last 12 home games. The Under is 11-5 in the Dolphins last 16 games in November.