Why you should consider betting Chicago Bears in second half against New York Giants

Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants could come down to coaching. Fortunately for both teams, their rookie head coaches are off to a strong start.

Both Matt Eberflus (Bears) and Brian Daboll (Giants) are 2-1 to begin their first year for their respective teams. Neither of these two teams were expected to find this much early success, but that is honestly a testament to the guys at the helm.

For the Bears, an incredible second-half stat helps illustrate just that. The Bears have yet to surrender a second-half touchdown and have allowed a total of 12 points to be scored over the final two quarters through three weeks, which is a credit to the staff’s ability to make adjustments at halftime as well as the Bears’ defensive identity under Eberflus.

Eberflus was asked about this during Wednesday’s media availability, and he acknowledged that there is a reason behind this trend.

“Halftime for us is very organized,” Eberflus said. “We have a lot of information given to the players from up top. The way we do it, I’m not going to disclose all that, but I think it is very good. The players know exactly what is going to come in the second half, in terms of what we are going to call and how we are going to attack an offense. We’ve had that in place for quite a few years now.”

Prior to taking over the Bears this past offseason, Eberflus spent the past four years as defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. They were generally better coming out of the locker room the second half, including 2021 when the Colts gave up 5.31 yards per play and eight total touchdowns during the third quarter. Both marks ranked the lowest when split by quarter, though they weren’t able to close things out in the fourth frame last year.

In 2020, the Colts surrendered 14 second-half touchdowns (four in the third quarter) compared to 30 first-half touchdowns. Opponents averaged 4.9 yards per play in the third quarter and 5.2 yards per play in the fourth quarter against the Colts defense, who also gave up over 6.5 yards per play in each of the first periods during the 2020 campaign.

“We just have a clear and concise plan where we are going in the second half,” Eberflus said.

So what does that mean from a betting perspective? The obvious answer might be the right one, in which bettors and Bears fans should look to play this team in the second half. This means looking for opportunities to make in-game wagers at halftime.

Caesars Sportsbook, the official odds partner of Bet Chicago Sports, already has second-half odds for those who don’t want to wait until Sunday to place such bets. The total is currently priced at 19.5, with the over juiced to -125 and the under priced at +105. Given what we know, the under should be of interest to readers.

As far as the spread, the Bears are getting 0.5 points (-105) in the second half prior to kickoff. To bet on the Bears to win the second half, Caesars Sportsbook is offering a moneyline price of +120.

These odds will obviously change based on what transpires on the field in the first half, but this trend is something to consider for the remainder of the Bears’ season.