Bears making waves on first day of free agency

Football Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears have scheduled a press conference on Friday afternoon, at which time they are expected to introduce their newest free agent acquisitions.

Reports indicate the team has agreed to long-term deals with defensive end Julius Peppers, running back Chester Taylor and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna.

According to ESPN, Peppers has agreed to terms on a six-year contract that could be worth as much as $40 million during the first half of the deal. The 30-year-old is coming off a season with Carolina in which he played under the franchise tender, recording 10 1/2 sacks, two interceptions, five forced fumbles and a touchdown in 16 games.

Peppers, who was the second overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft out of North Carolina, has spent his entire eight-year career with the Panthers. He missed only six regular season games during his stint with Carolina and has reached double-digits in sacks six times.

Widely viewed as the marquee free agent of this offseason, Peppers has totaled 81 sacks, six interceptions, 30 forced fumbles and two touchdowns in 122 regular season games.

Taylor, also 30, reportedly signed a four-year deal worth $12.5 million, with $7 million guaranteed, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Toledo product recently finished his fourth season in Minnesota and third straight as the backup to two-time All-Pro Adrian Peterson. He ran for 338 yards on 94 carries last season and caught 44 passes for 389 yards, totaling two touchdowns.

His best season came in 2006, when he was the primary back for the Vikings. In 15 games, Taylor carried the ball 303 times for 1,216 yards -- both career- highs -- and ran for six scores. Through 123 regular season games in eight seasons with Minnesota and Baltimore, the durable Taylor has totaled 4,396 rushing yards, 2,094 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.

Manumaleuna, who turned 30 in January, has apparently agreed to terms on a five-year contract as per the Chicago Tribune. Manumaleuna spent the past four years with the San Diego Chargers after playing his first five seasons with the St. Louis Rams. His first head coach in the NFL was Mike Martz, who is the Bears' new offensive coordinator.

The Arizona product is mostly known as a run blocker. He had just five catches for 13 yards last season and has caught only 110 passes for 965 yards with 12 touchdowns in his nine-year career.

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Football Betting

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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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