Ala Hann Sport picks

Jay Cutler affected the NFL odds of two teams this summer: Chicago’s got a boost with his acquisition, while Denver’s dropped quicker than the Titanic. Cutler said that Chicago fans are better than Denver fans, and he’ll get his response when the Bears head to Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday night.

Bears vs Broncos odds – Sunday, August 30, 8:00 PM ET

Cutler was 8-of-13 for 121 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bears to a 17-3 win over the Giants at home, which was a much better performance than his debut against Buffalo. The Bears were well balanced, passing for 222 yards while rushing for 150 yards, but they did commit 11 penalties in the game. The Bears are one of the top NFL picks to reach the playoffs, and possibly win their division, but they’re not good enough yet to make that many mistakes.

Kyle Orton proved in his three-pick showing against San Francisco that he needed all the reps he could get, and he improved in a 27-13 loss to Seattle. Orton was 18-of-26 for 182 yards and a touchdown, but he did throw another pick as well. Orton will have loads of motivation in this game, as he was criticized in Chicago constantly before he was involved in the Cutler deal. This is his chance to quiet the fans who were on his back, and get some of his new fans on his side, because there are lots of people in Denver waiting for him to fail.

The Broncos are 2.5-point offshore sportsbook favorites at home in this contest, and the Bears have split their four trips to Denver, the most recent of which came in 2006, a 19-10 win for Chicago. We’ll see a lot of Cutler and Orton as this will be their last major action before the regular season begins, and it’ll be interesting to see how Cutler handles the reaction of the Denver fans, which we’re willing to bet won’t be positive. He had some fans who had taken his side, but the comments about Chicago fans being better probably struck a nerve. It doesn’t really matter, though. The Broncos are terrible, and Orton has no business being a No.1 quarterback in the NFL. Take the Bears in your handicapping software.