NFL Football
2011-09-11 - Atlanta Falcons at Chicago Bears
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
American Football : North America : NFL
Sunday, September 11th, 2011, 1:00PM US
(6:00PM GMT)
PREVIEW
Yep, I'm going with Atlanta here. Chicago came so close to a place in the Superbowl, they were a TD away, in fact. Atlanta had a brilliant 13 win regular season but got torn apart, in their own backyard, by the Green Bay Packers. I still think Atlanta have what it takes to come here and grab a win.
In Matt Ryan, the Falcons have the QB for their future. In his 3 seasons he has racked up 33 wins already, which ties him with Dan Marino for the best start from a starter in their opening 3 seasons. Behind him, Atlanta scored the 5th most points in the NFL last season, and were 16th in total offence.
The Atlanta Falcons have the NFCs best running back in Michael Turner, who racked up over 1,370 yards with 12 TDs. Turner has 39 rushing TDs in his 2 years with Atlanta, which is 2nd best in the NFL. The offence has Roddy White who had 115 receptions last season, with Tony Gonzalez catching another 70. Gonzalez now has over 60 receptions in 12 straight seasons, putting him in a class of his own.
Not content with this arsenal of players, the Falcons traded 5 draft choices to land Alabama's Julio Jones, who has moved to the NFL after only his junior year. The signing of this fantastic WR means Chicago have to defend against a huge man who caught 78 passes for almost 1,150 yards and 7 TDs. If he combines with Ryan the way I think he will, this offence will be even more devastating that last year.
I just don't believe in Cutler. The Chicago Bears QB had another decent season last year, throwing for almost 3,275 yards with 23 TDs. He took Chicagos record from 7-9 to 10-5 but he did get picked 16 times! Cutler's main partner here will be Matt Forte, who had over 1,069 rushing yards and 547 receiving. That doesn't help the Bears enough though, as this group were ranked 21st in points scored and 30th in the NFL in total yards!
Comparatively, the Falcons defence allowed the 5th fewest points were fifth in points and were 16th in total defence! John Abraham, the Falcons DE registered 13 sacks last year, getting to that number for the 2nd straight year, and will be a serious threat to Cutler.
Green Bay put up close to 50 points on Atlanta's defence because of how good they are. This is a very good defence and the fact the team chose to improve their offence rather than work on their defence tells you how confident this team is. Only Ray Edwards got signed as a free agent from the Vikings. Ryan has White, Jones, Turner and Gonzalez to hit this Chicago defence and I feel that will be too much firepower for the Bears.
BETTING VERDICT
I like Atlanta to win this. It might just be close though so keep bets to a sensible size.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Atlanta Falcons
