On paper, this is a matchup between two 3-1 teams— the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears— looking to get another win during a hot start. When you dive in deeper, this is a one-sided matchup and it begins at the quarterback position.
The Buccaneers are beginning to look like the team, especially on the offensive end, that everyone expected when they signed Tom Brady. The Bucs picked up a 38-31 come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. They fell behind 24-7 in the first half but the connection between Brady and Mike Evans was dynamic.
The Bears do not have Brady under center. They have Nick Foles and a very mediocre offense. The Bears scored just 11 points on Sunday, and eight of those points came late in the fourth quarter when the game was decided. Chicago punted seven times in this game. Outside of Allen Robinson, the Bears offense is extremely unimpressive.
This is the Thursday night matchup this week. It is immediately one of the best matchups out of the rest of the Thursday night games but that is not saying much.
With that being said, let’s take a look at five bold predictions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears matchup in Week 5.
