The Bears will be playing the nobody believes in us card most of this year. They open the season as big underdogs.
As will be the case for most of this season, the Bears will be underdogs. This would obviously be true when facing the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons.
Still, at home to open the season, it is not the greatest vote of confidence for the Bears to be a full touchdown underdog. Given home field advantage, this would mean that the Falcons are 13 point favorites over the Bears if the Bears had to go to Atlanta.
As a road favorite of seven points, the Falcons are 11-10 against the spread since 1992. In games where the Bears are home and underdogs over 3.5 points to seven points, they are 18-10 against the spread.
The Super Bowl loser has lost the past three years in their next season opener. At the same time, the Bears are 0-6 in their last six September games.
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For this game, the Falcons should be able to get out with a win. They do not have history on their side, but the Bears quarterback situation is skeptical, and their edge rushers should be able to handle the Bears tackles with ease. The Bears will look to run the ball and complete short passes. They also have a strong defense, and taking the Falcons to win by more than seven points is a very risky proposition. With seven points, the Bears may end up being the right side.