NFL Preseason Betting Preview

Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts

Monday, 8:00 pm Eastern – ESPN

Current Line: Bears -2.5, Total 35.5

The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears meet in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI tonight in preseason action.  The game won’t mean anything but it still might provide some form of revenge if the Bears can get the win. 
 

The Colts have lost quite a few players from their Super Bowl team.  They are missing running back Dominic Rhodes who is now in Oakland, left tackle Tarik Glenn who retired, defensive tackle Anthony McFarland, out for the season with an injury, linebacker Cato June, now in Tampa Bay, and cornerbacks Nick Harper, now in Tennessee and Jason David, now in New Orleans.

The Colts lost their preseason opener to the Cowboys 23-10 while the Bears started with a 20-19 win over Houston. The Bears no longer have Thomas Jones who is now with the Jets or defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who was released.  The game won’t be much of a rematch tonight since starters won’t play very long for either team.  The Colts are expected to play Peyton Manning and the starters about 20-25 plays which should take them into the 2nd quarter.  Jim Sorgi will follow Manning and get the bulk of the playing time and Josh Betts will finish up.

Current Line: Bears -2.5 (-115), Total 37

The Colts will be without safeties Bob Sanders (shoulder) and Brannon Condren (groin), cornerback Michael Coe (groin), offensive tackle Gabe Hall (knee), linebackers KaMichael Hall (hamstring), Victor Worsley (hamstring) and Tyjuan Hagler (knee) and defensive tackles Tom Johnson (calf) and Ramel Meekins (groin). RB Joseph Addai won't get a lot of carries. The team wants to avoid wearing down Addai so expect second-year RB DeDe Dorsey to get a lot of work tonight.

The Bears are expected to let their starters go into the 2nd quarter as well.  QB Rex Grossman will be followed by Brian Griese and Kyle Orton.  The Bears may not play linebacker Brian Urlacher and will want to take a look at younger players. "Whenever you get a chance to play against the world champions, it's big," head coach Lovie Smith said. "It's just another chance to see exactly where we are with our evaluation of our football team."

The Bears hold a 7-5-1 advantage in the all-time preseason series with the Colts.