Pinnacle +8 -103 BET365 +8 -110 SportsInteraction +8 -110 BetOnline +8 -110 Bookmaker +8 -110

Posted at 10:30 AM EST. 

Chicago +8 -103 over L.A. RAMS

8:20 PM EST. Remember when Sean McVay was the super genius offensive guru of the new Millenium? Those were good times. Many branches fell off his coaching tree, most notably Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. Jared Goff was at the helm, putting up big numbers, Todd Gurley was ripping up defenses and it looked as if the Rams were in a two-team inter-conference space race with the Chiefs for NFL offensive supremacy. Well, half that equation held up its end of the deal.

So, what do we make of the Rams sending Jared Goff to football purgatory in Detroit for a 33-year-old Matt Stafford? Not fucking much, to be honest. Forgive us if we can't get excited by this move, but it reeks of desperation and regret for signing Goff to the largest contract ever (at the time) when he put his name on the dotted line. Teams in this league do not just trade multiple first-round picks all Willy Nilly. Not unless they are totally fucked up.

The Rams front office's flip-flopping on bad contracts is not limited to last season as Gurley, Jalen Ramsey and others were cut loose long before their deals were to expire. The Rams were in the Super Bowl less than three years ago and were a 10-6 playoff team last season. Teams that have that kind of perennial success don't usually kick their young franchise quarterbacks to the curb. Don’t ignore the signs.

Like the Rams, the Bears moved on from former number two pick Mitch Trubisky after three lackluster seasons. The Bears took Justin Fields at number 10 in this year's draft, but unlike others in his draft class, such as Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, Fields will apparently be relegated to the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Bears' coach Matt Nagy has chosen to start veteran Andy Dalton, so the "Red Rifle" rides again.

The market will not embrace the decision to start Dalton but it is the one that may suit us best here in Week 1, at least from a wagering perspective. There is nothing sexy about Dalton; meanwhile, the Rams are getting a ton of attention, and their stock is soaring with the addition of Stafford. There is no doubt an overreaction in the market to the Rams' new quarterback, while the Bears' choice is being undersold. That combination presents an inflated number in a high-profile, prime time game. That’s a situation we are almost always on the lookout for.

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