It’s a Saturday night in March and there’s basketball on the TV. What better time to talk about NFL team win totals than right now?
DraftKings Sportsbook released their initial win total amounts for NFL teams Saturday and that means an excuse to talk about gambling.
They set the Chicago Bears win total over/under for 2023 at 7.5.
That’s not bad for a team coming off a league-worst 3-14 record and held the No. 1 overall pick in the draft until a couple of weeks ago.
But with the trade adding draft picks and DJ Moore, plus free agent additions to the defense, suddenly the bookmakers are a little bullish on the Bears.
The San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs all have the highest win totals at 11.5.
The Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans have the lowest at 5.5.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, the Detroit Lions o/u is set at 9.5 and the Minnesota Vikings at 8.5. The Green Bay Packers are set at 7.5.
As a reminder, if you’re picking the games and trying to count wins today, the Bears’ opponents are:
Home: Packers, Lions, Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Cardinals
Away: Packers, Lions, Vikings, Chiefs, Las Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns
There is better juice on the Bears’ under 7.5 (+100) than the over (-120), which again shows that perhaps there is some optimism that the Bears could go over.
For beginners, a plus number means a larger payout, but is the less-favorable outcome according to the betting market (less likely to happen, longer odds), a minus number would be that it’s more favorable and thus, more likely and shorter odds. A 100-unit bet on the Bears over would pay 83.33 units back while 100 units on the under would pay 100 units.
What do you think? WIll the Bears win more or less than 7.5 games this year?