NFL Teams Betting - Chicago Bears - NFC North

The Bears are thinking championship. The club started the season 7-3 last year before injuries derailed the campaign. With the core of that roster back, as well as numerous offseason additions, the team believes it is ready to make a real run at the second Super Bowl title in club history. Questions along the offensive line and in the secondary still exist, but on paper, the roster appears to be one of the best in the NFC. Head coach Lovie Smith is on the hot seat after failing to make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons.

Team president and CEO Ted Phillips fired general manager Jerry Angelo in the aftermath of last season’s team nose-dive from a 7–3 start to an 8–8 finish. The fatal fade was the direct result of quarterback Jay Cutler’s season-ending fractured thumb in the final minutes of the Week 11 victory over the Chargers. Backup quarterback Caleb Hanie was a disaster, and the loss of do-everything running back Matt Forté two weeks later didn’t help.

Phillips hired former Bears area scout Phil Emery to replace Angelo with one simple edict: Narrow the talent gap between the Bears and the NFC North rival Packers (15–1) and Lions (10–6) — and do it now.

Emery opened with a bang, trading for troubled three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who had worn out his welcome in Miami. Emery also added nine unrestricted free agents and re-signed five of his own. Two key newcomers, quarterback Jason Campbell and running back Michael Bush, give the Bears better depth at those positions than they’ve had since Lovie Smith became head coach in 2004.