Evidenced by the odds making a relatively huge three-point leap toward the Green Bay Packers, the betting public doesn’t believe in the Chicago Bears. And according to his Monday morning rant on ESPN, neither does former head coach-turned-analyst Rex Ryan.
When the line for Saturday night’s Wild Card game at Soldier Field opened, the Bears were favored at FanDuel by 1.5 points. Less than 24 hours later, however, it has swung to the Packers by 1.5. That means the majority of bettors believe the Bears shouldn’t have been favored and that the Packers will win the game.
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Because of severe skepticism in Dennis Allen’s defense, Ryan expects the Packers to win also.
“What defense?” Ryan joked when asked to analyze the Bears on Monday’s episode of Get Up!. “They like to say they’re orchestrating all these takeaways. That’s not part of it. You run to the football and that’s great. But that defense is awful. They don’t disguise anything worth a darn. It’s horrendous. It’s going to hold them back and I don’t see them winning. You say defense wins championships? Good luck with this one.”
Ouch.
To Ryan’s point, this Bears’ defense will never be confused with the 1985 unit. They finished 29th overall, 27th against the run and 23rd in points allowed. Only the 3-14 New York Jets, 5-12 Washington Commanders, 6-11 Cincinnati Bengals and 7-9-1 Dallas Cowboys gave up more touchdown passes.
Chicago didn’t lead at any time in either game with the Packers, winning the second meeting in overtime after overcoming a 10-point deficit in the final minute. The Bears coughed up five Red Zone touchdowns to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17. Those same Niners were held out of the end zone by the Seattle Seahawks last weekend.
So how did the Bears win 11 games and capture the NFC North? They became the first NFL team to finish a season with most takeaways (33) and fewest giveaways (11) since 2011. That’s a defensive feat they haven’t accomplished since 1963, when won the NFL championship.
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Safety Kevin Byard picked off a pass in Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions to finish the season with a league-leading seven.
According to ESPN’s analytics, the Bears have only the sixth-best chance of getting to the Sper Bowl at 8 percent, behind the Niners (9), Packers (10), Eagles (14), Rams (23) and Seahawks (34).
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