Niners Host Bears in Battle of Back-Ups Monday Night

Two teams dealing with playoff races and injured starting quarterbacks square-off when the 6-2-1 San Francisco 49ers host the 7-2 Chicago Bears for this week's edition of Monday Night Football (8:30 pm ET, ESPN).

On one side of this matchup Chicago started 1-1 this season, then won six games in a row, thanks in large part to a defense that's scored seven touchdowns on the year. Last week, though, the Bears fell at home to Houston 13-6.

Chicago lost more than a game last Sunday night, as QB Jay Cutler got knocked out of action with a head injury.

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So the Bears' lead in the NFC North is down to a half-game over 7-3 Green Bay. Should Chicago lose Monday night it would fall to second place, because the Packers own the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Bears, having won the first meeting of the season between the rivals back in Week 2.

Chicago and Green Bay hook up for the second time during this regular season in four weeks at Soldier Field.

San Francisco, meanwhile, won its first two games this season, starting with a victory at Green Bay, then lost at Minnesota. The Niners then won two more in a row, before losing at home to the Giants. San Fran then won two more in a row, but last week, as 13-point favorites, had to settle for a 24-24 tie vs. the Rams. Along the way, QB Alex Smith took a couple of knocks to the noggin, and had to leave the game.

So the 49ers, at 6-2-1, lead the NFC West by a game and a half over second-place Seattle.

Cutler will not play Monday night, and Smith is still very questionable. So Monday night's QB matchup looks like Jason Campbell for the Bears against Colin Kaepernick for the Niners.

Earlier this week most NFL betting outlets, thinking Smith might play while Cutler wouldn't, opened San Francisco at upwards of -7 for Monday night's game. But since then most shops have dropped the Niners to -3.5, which is where it sat Monday morning.

Also, the total on Monday's game sits at 34.5, one of the lowest OVER/UNDERS on an NFL game this season.

These two teams last met three seasons ago, the Niners picking Cutler off five times on their way to an ugly 10-6 victory.