The Nick Foles era has begun in Chicago. Mitch Trubisky had his chances, but he just isn’t that guy, and it looks like he never will be. Last week in Atlanta, Foles came on in relief of Trubisky and he accomplished three things.
He rallied the Bears from a deep deficit late, and led the visitors to victory. He also made sure the Atlanta Falcons stayed on brand, further strengthening their reputation as a team where no lead is EVER safe!
“Let me tell you about those gut feelings, I had some gut feelings in Tampa, and I changed quarterbacks a few times,” said former Colts head Coach and current NBC Analyst Tony Dungy.
“I never had a gut feeling in Indianapolis with Peyton Manning. That tells me that Matt Nagy doesn’t really believe he has a franchise quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky.”
Dungy led the Colts to a Super Bowl XLI victory over the Chicago Bears in early 2007, and Sunday brings a match-up of the same two teams at Soldier Field.
In this rematch of the first Super Bowl to feature two black head coaches, (Lovie Smith was on the sidelines for the Monsters of the Midway that night) the visiting Colts are actually favored, although not by much.
NFL Public Betting at BetQL shows Indy -2.5 for the Sunday afternoon clash on the shore of Lake Michigan.
If you’re looking for the moneyline consensus at the Best Bets section, it reads -140 for the Colts and +120 for the Bears. Cruise on over to the Sharp Picks section and you’ll see that it is essentially a pick’em when it comes to public sentiment on this game. Public betting right now is 51%-49% in favor of Indianapolis. In a game expected to be this tightly contested, weather could easily play a role, and the forecast is pretty blah and meh.
The forecast calls for a high of 54 with a 60% chance of rain and winds NNW at 10-15 mph. We’ll see what happens when Foles takes the controls of Chicago Airways.
“Nick Foles should be the starting quarterback,” said former New England Patriots safety and current NFL talking head Rodney Harrison.
“He has experience. The guys in that locker room respect the fact that he is a Super Bowl MVP. Mitch Trubisky had three years and three games to prove himself. He is entirely too inconsistent, and I think the most important fact is his teammates lost confidence in him.”
“When Nick Foles came in you saw, and coach talked about, how they rallied around him and they brought a lot of energy and it actually affected the defense as well.”
Prediction: Chicago Bears 23, Indianapolis Colts 21
I think I’ve finally learned my lesson about picking the Bears to lose every week. While they’re 3-0 is about as unsightly as 3-0 can be, it is nonetheless undefeated, and enough to convert this heretic. Now watch, the Bears will lose simply because I cut against the grain here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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