After suffering a heart-breaking loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers, in which Fitzpatrick‘s late magic was not quite good enough to pull off a miraculous win at the end, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now face the Chicago Bears on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bears are coming off a win against the Arizona Cardinals and have won two games in a row now. They lost their first game against the Green Bay Packers in a very close nail biter.
The Bears have a decent running back in Jordan Howard, who has run for 178 yards and one touchdown so far this year, averaging 3.4 yards per carry. With the Bucs passing defense being the second worst in the NFL at the moment, however, look for the Bears to try and beat the Bucs mainly through the air with second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky and Allen Robinson, a dangerous wide receiver Chicago acquired in the offseason this year. Containing Robinson will be a key for Tampa Bay to win this game.
With the future of the franchise, Jameis Winston, finally being available again to the Buccaneers after his suspension, it is still uncertain whom the Bucs will start at quarterback. Hopefully Winston will get the nod. It is rather unlikely, though, as Fitzpatrick has played too well to be taken out of the lineup now. Yet another first half like the one he had against the Steelers will most likely get him benched.
Fitzpatrick will no longer be Fitzmagic, and the running game will struggle as usual, but it will be enough for the Bucs to bounce back and beat the Bears in a close game once again. The Buccaneers showed a lot of heart and passion in the second half against the Steelers in a game that seemed lost. This pure will and determination will linger on into week 4. Another win would certainly feel good before the bye week.
Final score: 20-17 Bucs!
