When this season began, if you had told me one head coach was in danger of being fired in this Week 14 Thursday night matchup between Dallas and Chicago, I would have thought, "Yeah sounds right." Of course, I would have expected it to be the Cowboys' Jason Garrett, who was the betting favorite at all the sportsbooks back in the summer to be the first canned.

With Dallas a surprising 8-4, Garrett seems safe barring an epic collapse down the stretch that sees the Cowboys finish 8-8 for an NFL-record fourth straight season. No, the guy on the hot seat is the Bears' Marc Trestman. He looked to have major promise last season in turning journeyman backup QB Josh McCown into one of the NFL's top-rated passers in McCown's half season of work for an injured Jay Cutler. Bears fans were giddy at the thought of having one of the NFL's best offenses this season after Chicago finished No. 2 in scoring in 2013.

However, the Bears are a massively disappointing 5-7, and for whatever reason the offense has taken a gigantic step back -- especially Cutler, who may be the most hated Chicago star athlete in the Windy City ever. Ask 10 Bears fans right now, and at least seven will say it's time to clean house. Fire GM Phil Emery and the entire coaching staff and trade Cutler (how about for Robert Griffin III?). Alas, Bears ownership (which most Bears fans would also like gone) is rather conservative, so I don't think any of that happens, and that Emery/Trestman will get one more season to turn things around. Chicago will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. About the only thing that would have been worse is if Tampa Bay had been a Super Bowl contender this year under former Bears coach Lovie Smith.

Cowboys at Bears Betting Story Lines

Sometimes you have one of those games you just throw in the mental recycle bin and forget about. I think that's what Dallas will do with its Thanksgiving 33-10 home thumping to Philadelphia. The Eagles might be the fittest team in the NFL under Chip Kelly as he goes up-tempo all week in practice as well. Philly simply looked faster last Thursday in the quick turnaround game (even shorter turnaround for Dallas as it had played the previous Sunday night).

Frankly, the Cowboys did nothing well. Tony Romo, who is dealing with a back injury, looked tentative and gimpy at times and threw for just 199 yards with two picks. That ended his 38-game streak with at least one touchdown pass. DeMarco Murray had a season-low 73 yards on the ground, just his second game with less than 100. The Cowboys turned it over three times and allowed the Eagles to run for 256 yards and put up 26 first downs, including 8-for-15 third-down conversions. All four Cowboys losses have come at home this year, and they haven't topped 17 points in any of them.

The Bears are playing for pride and to be a spoiler at this point and for some jobs in 2015. They led Detroit 14-3 after one quarter last Thursday, but then the offense went into a shell and the Bears lost 34-17. It seemed that all Chicago did was throw receiver screens or dump-offs to Matt Forte. It worked in the first quarter, but the Lions adjusted and the Bears didn't despite having two great receivers in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery (neither looks healthy) and a tight end in Martellus Bennett. Cutler threw a career-high 13 screen passes against the Lions but completed just 3 of 12 passes of at least 11 yards down the field. This isn't high school; you can't win that way. The Bears gained 13 yards on eight rushing attempts and then totally abandoned the ground game, which has been a staple under Trestman. The eight attempts were the fewest in franchise history. Somewhere George Halas is rolling in his grave. Cutler had two more interceptions, bringing his turnover total to an NFL-high 20. Chicago's opponents have scored a total of 85 points off the club's 23 total giveaways.

It was Chicago's sixth straight game scoring 23 points or fewer. The Bears' defense simply isn't good enough to win games by itself. Chicago ranks 30th against the pass, and Detroit's Matthew Stafford threw for a season-high 390 yards with Calvin Johnson a men among boys with 11 catches for 146 yards and two scores in his best game of the year. Even if Trestman keeps his job, defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will not. Dez Bryant could have a big night Thursday.

Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears Week 14 NFL Betting Odds and Trends

At 5Dimes , Dallas is a 3.5-point opening favorite (-110) with two alternate lines as of now: -3 (-135) and -4 (-104). The Cowboys are -190 on the moneyline, with the Bears are +165. The total is 51.5 points. Dallas is 6-6 against the spread this season (4-1 on road) and 6-5-1 "over/under" (4-1 on road). Chicago is 5-7 ATS (2-3 at home) and 7-5 over/under (1-4 at home).

The Cowboys are 7-3 ATS in their past 10 following a double-digit loss at home. Dallas is 0-4 ATS in its past five Thursday games and 1-5 ATS in its past six in December. Chicago has covered just three of its past 15 at home and one of its past eight overall on Thursday. The over is 6-2 in Dallas' past eight vs. teams with a losing record. The over is 6-0 in Chicago's past six against teams with a losing record. The over is 4-0 in the past four meetings.

Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears Expert NFL Picks and Betting Predictions

The Cowboys have a history over the past 20 years or so of often fading late in the season. Jimmy Johnson had three winning regular-season records in the months of December and January. The six coaches that have followed Johnson have four in 20 seasons. This is the third time a Garrett-led Cowboys team has entered December with a winning record: also in 2011 and last year. The Cowboys went a combined 2-7 in December and January to finish 8-8 in both.

That said, Dallas is 5-0 on the road, and the Bears have been a terrible team at home, with the only wins coming against non-playoff teams Minnesota and Tampa Bay. The Bears trailed 10-0 at one point in both of those games. The Cowboys will want a bit of payback for last season's embarrassing 45-28 loss in Chicago, also in Week 14. The Bears, behind a huge game from McCown, scored on their first eight possessions. It was the coldest regular-season game in Dallas history with temperatures at kickoff at 8 degrees and wind chills around minus-10. Frankly, those Bears with McCown were better than these current ones with Cutler.

Give the alternate number of 3 points, and go 'under' as I don't trust Chicago to get more than 20 points or Dallas to top 30.

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