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Bears get serious: Plan `regular game` vs. Chargers By Josh Hansen Thu, Aug 17, 2006 Forget what you saw last week in San Francisco. That was the preseason. Friday night in Chicago, the Bears will play a “regular game” against the 3-point underdog San Diego Chargers. Or, so says head coach Lovie Smith. "This week we`re putting a lot more into it," Smith told the Chicago Sun Times. "Each week we let the players play more and we`ll put more in. This is a big football game for us. We can`t wait to let the guys loose." Can you blame them? The Bears made a mockery of themselves in last week’s 28-14 loss to San Francisco as 1 1/2-point underdogs. Alex Smith and the rest of San Francisco offense pistol-whipped Chicago’s formidable defense for 247 passing yards and another 150 on the ground. Now Smith is looking for more from his heralded defense. With the game airing on national television it’s expected the starters for both teams will play at least the first half. “I think Lovie is just taking the company line when he says he`s going to treat this game against San Diego like a regular season game,” says Sportinteraction’s Anthony Munnelly. “If I owned a team and caught the coach treating preseason like regular season I`d be sending for the medics- the head medics.” Good thing Munnelly manages a sportsbook instead. He’s been plenty busy keeping track of the action on Friday’s game. “We`re taking some nice action on the game, but that`s more to do with it being on TV than players believing what Lovie`s been saying,” says Munnelly. “We`ll see it build up more [Friday], when its profile raises.” Bettors already appear to be jumping on the Bears. The juice on most offshore sportsbooks is up around –125, signaling action Chicago’s way and some books have moved the club to a 3 1/2-point favorite. "The handle is always big on the Bears, even when the team itself sucks," says Munnelly fade this article and take SD +4

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