Last week the Buccaneers won their third game in a row and completed one of the largest comebacks in team history. Last week’s game was proof that the offense is finding their stride. Tom Brady threw five touchdowns to five different receivers. Working on a short week, injury will play a huge role in this week’s game.
The Buccaneers will most likely be without Chris Godwin again this week. The season ending achilles injury to O.J.Howard was a big blow and the Buccaneers will have to figure out who can fill that role. The team will travel to Chicago to face the Bears on the national stage Thursday night.
Breaking Down The Bears
The Bears come into the matchup at 3-1 also. In the Week three matchup with the Falcons, Coach Matt Nagy brought in Nick Foles late in the game and got a win. The next day Foles was named the starter for the rest of the season. Week four was a let down for the team as they lost to the Indianapolis Colts 19-11. The offense only rushed for 28 yards and had no touchdowns. Foles had 26 completions on 42 pass attempts, for 249 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Bears have also had a rash of injuries, they lost Tarik Cohen for the season with a torn ACL. With the injury to Cohen, the Bears will Look to David Montgomery to shoulder the load at Running Back. Allen Robinson II will also be a big factor into what the Bears will look to do.
The strong point of the team is defense. The defense held the Colts to only 289 total yards this past week. Looking at this team they have playmakers on every level. The defense has a great pass rush led by Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks. Danny Trevathan is a player that also must be located pre-snap, as he has a knack for being around the ball. The back end of the defense has Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson who both have played well
How The Game Will Play Out
Going into this game the Buccaneers will look to continue to build on the momentum from last weeks comeback win. The defense of the Bucs will have to fix some of the mental errors made last week. The Bears will look to fix some of the issues on the offensive side of the ball and run the ball much better. That will be a tall task as the Bucs are one of the leagues best run defensive teams. If the Bucs can get to Foles early and disrupt his rhythm, this game will be another building block for this Bucs defense. The Bears defense will intend to do the same thing to Tom Brady and disrupt him from getting into a rhythm. This one will come down to which defense makes a timely play.
Prediction
The Buccaneers offense improves and continues to build. The Bears defense make it hard for Brady early but can’t slow the offensive weapons enough. Brady and the Bucs find a way to score 24 point and get to 4-1
Final score prediction Bucs 24, Bears 6
