Spread Keeps Falling, Bet Handle Zooming Towards Detroit Lions At Chicago Bears

The Lions point spread is on its way down, while bets on Detroit are piling up for the weekend against the Chicago Bears.

As vultures are circling around the Matt Nagy era, and the Chicago quarterback situation twisting in the Windy City, bettors are finding favor with the winless Lions.

Sportsbooks such as PointsBet MI, BetRivers and WynnBET had the Lions all the way down underdogs of just 2.5 points on Thursday. On Friday, however, books across the board had the game back to the key number of 3 for Sunday’s game in Chicago. By game time, the lines had settled at 3, as rookie Justin Fields was reportedly set to make his second career start.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears: Week 4 NFL Odds

Liones-Bears spread settles at 3 points across the board

WynnBet released betting information for Sunday’s game, noting that 83.5% of spread bets were coming on the Lions. The opening line was 3.5 points, but was down to 2.5 on Thursday afternoon.

Over the summer, the spread was 5.5 points for Chicago. You could get bets in as high as 6 points late Sunday afternoon when the game-week line was first released.

However, as fallout from Week 3 came through, the spread had moved down to 3.5 points most places by Monday morning.

That movement resulted after the Lions had a competitive and controversial 19-17 loss to Baltimore, Detroit’s second cover in three losses. Meanwhile, the Bears struggled mightily in Sunday’s 26-6 loss to Cleveland.

DraftKings Sportsbook said Sunday morning that 81% of spread handle was on the Lions, with a +3 spread there. The Lions were getting 87% of spread bets as of Thursday.

BetMGM Sportsbook has had the spread move from Lions +6 to +3 by Saturday morning. The operator reported 75% of spread handle on Detroit on Sunday.

Meanwhile, PointsBet is the only operator who has so far reported Chicago action, as 66% of their spread handle is on the Bears, they said Sunday. PointsBet, DraftKings and BetRivers are live online in Illinois, while WynnBET and BetMGM are not.

(Editor’s note: Our real-time odds tracker above has the best available line on all sides of Sunday’s action.)

Lions will be without top pass rusher again

After missing Sunday’s game against Baltimore, Lions defensive end Trey Flowers (shoulder/knee) missed practice Wednesday and Thursday. He was officially ruled out on Friday after missing practice again.

Other Lions who have been limited at practice this week are defensive end Michael Brockers, outside linebacker Romeo Okwara and running back D’Andre Swift. All three are questionable for the game.

MORE NFL: We talked to PlayIllinois and compared the Michigan and Ililnois sports betting scenes

Who is playing quarterback for the Bears on Sunday? We have an answer

For the Bears, there was no definitive word on who will start under center. However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday night that Fields was the guy.

Injured original starter Andy Dalton is out for the game.

Dalton was limited throughout the week, while Fields practiced in full despite a thumb injury. Fields was impotent last night as the Bears struggled in a 26-6 loss to Cleveland.