Sports

The Bears took over sole possession of first place in the NFC North on Sunday, improving their record to 7-3, half a game ahead of the 6-3-1 Packers and a full game ahead of the 6-4 Lions. But that doesn't make the Bears the division favorites.

In fact, the betting odds have the Bears a distant third in the division.

The Lions, despite being in third place, are currently the betting favorites with +130 odds to win the division at DraftKings.com. The Packers are just behind them at +135. The Bears, despite being in first place, are significant underdogs to win the division at +390. The 4-6 Vikings are in last place and have by far the longest odds, at +9000.

A big reason the gambling community isn't high on the Bears is that they're winning, but they're usually just squeaking by their opponents. Usually, the best teams are the ones that blow out their opponents. The Bears' point differential is -6, while the Lions' point differential is +76 and the Packers' point differential is +44. Point differential is usually a better predictor of a team's future performance than win-loss record.

The NFC North is likely to go down to the wire, as the Bears play the Packers twice in December, and the Bears and Lions meet to conclude the season in Week 18. The Bears will have their chances down the stretch to prove the oddsmakers wrong.

Raiders head coach Pete Carroll had a more positive take on quarterback Geno Smith's play against the Cowboys than Smith did after Monday night's loss.

Smith said "I've just got to play better" in the wake of the 33-16 loss and said to "blame it on me" if the offense doesn't play well enough to win a game. Smith was 27-of-42 for 238 yards, a touchdown and an interception on Monday.

While Smith took a critical view, Carroll said in his Tuesday press conference that he "thought Geno played really well for the most part last night" and that his confidence in the quarterback has not wavered over the team's 2-8 start to the season.

"I continue to really believe in him," Carroll said. "I have no hesitation in telling you that. He’s an incredible player and he’s busting his tail, he’s working at it really hard. He has not backed off one step throughout the process. He’s gonna keep working it and he’ll come through for us. We just gotta help him out more and protect him better."

Even if they agree that the Raiders allowed too much pressure on Monday night, others will take a dimmer view of Smith's play but it doesn't look like there's going to be a change under center in Las Vegas anytime soon.