WEEK 4 // Bears 48, Bucs 10

Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:51 am

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When I remember at 5:30am that the forum was scheduled to be back online:

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 CHICAGO BEARS 

 doesn't matter who the quarterback is, we plan on eating him, destroying his earthly flesh, and condemning his soul to an eternity of wandering in hell

 vs 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

 Fitzmagic is all that keeps a sex offender from starting

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Week 4: CHICAGO BEARS (2-1) vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)

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12pm CT/Noon kickoff, Sunday September 30th, 2018
TV/RADIO: STREAMS/WBBM 780

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Follow @BearsFansOnline on twitter for game updates and live breaking news as it happens, and the Gameday Chatroom is always open and serving lukewarm beer (mind the goat noises)!

Otis Day · Wed Sep 26, 2018 7:22 am

Bucs have a lot of weapons on the outside, no running game. Prince may not play. Bucs D is decent. Bears O trying to find their way. I see a 2018 Bears typical game., low scoring, frustrating (O wise).

I see the Bears squeeking this one out. I think the D gets a score and they stymie Fitzmagic enough to get the W.

Bears - 20
Bucs - 16

Bears Whiskey Nut · Wed Sep 26, 2018 7:30 am

Ugh! I'm not sure what to expect from this offense week over week. Are we going to start seeing things click for Mitch, or is he going to continue to throw behind a wide open Allen Robinson in the end zone. Realizing that if we had a top 15 QB right now, we would be 3-0, by a wide point margin, makes it all the more frustrating.

That being said. The Tampa run defense is terrible. Their running game is terrible. I think we saw on Monday in the first half of that game, what happens when you apply a little pressure to Fitzmagic. He starts throwing the ball up for grabs. He hasn't dealt with a pass rush like the Bears have. The Eagles have a good defense, but its not Khalil Mack and company. Bears have two rushing TD's and a pick six. Sack TB QB five times (I think Winston comes in for the 2nd half).

Bears - 24
Bucs - 20

Boris13c · Wed Sep 26, 2018 8:26 am

Bears Whiskey Nut wrote:That being said. The Tampa run defense is terrible.

yes ... yes it is

so if Nagy truly wants to help Trubisky get into the flow of things, a heavier emphasis on the running game is called for against Tampa Bay ... if he ignores the running game, and Trubisky keeps misfiring in the passing game, the Bears will be creating a massive headache for themselves

as for the Bucs, they are still not saying who will be at QB for them ... I kind of hope it is Winston ... let him come off his suspension to be pressured into oblivion

I expected the Bears to handle the Cardinals with ease, but Mitch sucked leading to that game being a lucky win and much closer than it should have been

I expect Mitch to still have issues but hope he reduces his suck factor significantly ... but because of Mitch, this game will also be closer than it should be unless the defense goes on a scoring run

Bears 24
Bucs 20

Mikefive · Wed Sep 26, 2018 8:46 am

It's a bad week to be playing Kevin Tolliver. Their D has been bad, but so was the Cards' D before we played them. Bucs steal one on the road as I don't have the faith that Nagy will commit enough to the run game.

Bucs 24
Bears 20

Wed Sep 26, 2018 8:51 am

I foresee more of the same. Big game that Bears should probably lose but pull out of their ass thanks to the defense being stellar.

Bears 20
Bucs 16

Wed Sep 26, 2018 8:55 am

I think the AZ game showed that the Bears are learning how to win. Barring a bunch of mistakes from Mitch, I think the Bears win this one.

Bears 26
Bucs 17

Also, thank god the forum is back. That was a long few days.

VA_Mountain_Bear · Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:08 am

For all the "Trubisky needs to____", your right, but pump the brakes guys. If you expect the offense to really start hitting it's stride before weeks 8-10, your setting yourself up for frustration. It is going to take time for a new offense, and new skill players, and a raw-as-hell QB to gel. It's just the way it is. Stop getting anxious, watch the growth, and start salivating over what this will look like for the team 2019 onward.

Bucs run D is weak, and Oline protection is weak. Bucs burn bears for 2 tds and 3 fgs, but between bears D scoring and Offense making slow progression Bears win 27-23

Nanky · Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:24 am

Bears win 27-24

G08 · Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:39 am

Defense will get tested but will pass. Smith, if I'm not mistaken, is a vanilla cover 2 guy... which means he's going to throw some exotic shit at Mitch. I expect an INT, maybe two, but the defense prevails in a close one.

Bears 24
Bucs 21

Z Bear · Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:59 am

A lot of you seem to think the D will give up 20 points, I don't. We are killing it in time of possession game with the way Nagy is running the offense, best way to cool off a hot QB is keep him off the field.

Bears 16
Yucs 10

LacertineForest · Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:02 am

I don't feel good about this one. Bucs haven't scored fewer than 27 yet this year (although a couple of the defenses they played were pretty bad), and the Bears haven't scored more than 17 on offense. The D is legit, but I think the Bucs will score more than the Bears can keep up with. I think the Bears need another defensive score if they are going to win, and I don't think that will happen.

Bucs - 26
Bears - 20

AZ_Bearfan · Wed Sep 26, 2018 4:44 pm

Bears come out firing on all cylinders and grab an early lead. The defense never lets Tampa get back in the game. Trubisky throws an opening drive TD to Robinson, Parkey has a big day with 4 field goals and Howard pops one in late from inside the 5.

Bears: 26
Bucs: 13

Bearfanuk · Wed Sep 26, 2018 4:58 pm

Just find a way to win and get to our bye week 3-1.

Bears 20
Bucs 17

Ormazd · Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:28 pm

If Trubisky can be reasonably competent? Bears 27-24

If he plays like last week? Bucs 27-16

The Marshall Plan · Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:29 pm

Pressure and turnover generating defense.
Time of possession owning offense that is relatively unpredictable.

The Bucs have a backup QB playing lights out who I think is due to revert to the mean. He's around a 125 QB rating right now I believe with a career average somewhere around 80 give or take.

Fitzpatrick is going to see Mack coming at him all game long and then when they double or triple team him then Hicks, RRH, Lynch, Smith, etc. will tee off.

The offense continues to progress and Biscuit looks pretty good.

Bears 24
Bucs 10

malk · Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:36 pm

Another weird one to call based on early season stats. They've had a good rush D (perhaps influenced by teams abandoning it due to their scoring) but given up a lot to the pass. Does this play against us or give hope that Trubisky can find a groove?

Their offence is likely to tail off and our defence is awesome so I think we can keep them to 20 or less. With some short fields and an early score we manage enough to scrape by with 23.

Bears 23, TB 20.

Bears Whiskey Nut · Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:59 pm

Bucs fans seems to think that our secondary is bad, and they are hoping to exploit it. Last time I heard, the Bears secondary was ranked #5. They think that their OL can hold up against our pass rush. I think the comment was, 'they have a good pass rush, but our OL has been solid'. Not last time I checked. They are also a horrible running team, so we can rush 4 or 5, and rush 6 or 7. They are also really bad at picking up the blitz. My guess is that they will come out firing to D-Jax and Mike Evans. But Fitzpatrick had 3-4 seconds to pass on Monday. He'll have about 2.5 on Sunday, if he's lucky.

If we can get home with 4-5 pass rushers and the occasional blitz, we should be able to slow down their passing game.

KOP_Snake · Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:44 pm

I'm thinkin Bears get blown out this week... I don't like it, but its true.

Knuckles · Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:22 am

All the shit talking I gave the local Buc fans all off season might come back to bite me in the rump. I don't know about this one Fitz is playing lights out but our D is very good it will be interesting. This is the least confident I've been so far though LOL. I FN hate the Bucs and their fans it's usually me the lone Bear fan at the bar with at least 50 of them and I'm going in full Bear gear. Ohh please Mitch have your coming out game! For the love of god don't lose to these guys....

Bears > 20 vs 17 < Bucs

GSH · Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:21 am

tolliver gets picked on and burned twice on the deep ball but fitztragic gets picked twice by eddie jackson. turnovers on D are enough to get us through this one with a W, but its the furthest thing from pretty. J How runs in for 2 td's.

Bears with a late FG

Bucs 17
Bears 20

HurricaneBear · Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:42 am

This game is a great test for these Bears. In the previous few years this would be a game the Bears lose by a few scores. I am sticking with my theme for the year: this year things are different!

I think this Bucs team is overrated. Evans and Jackson are dangerous and can win this game by themselves. There is no denying that. If Prince is out, the Bucs defintely have to hold an advantage here. The key to this game will be getting physical with Jackson and pressure on the QB. I am far more worried about Winston playing then Fitzpatrick. I have always liked Fitz, he's a guy if you put him in a good offense he will run it. But he is the same Fitzpatrick people have laughed about for years. He always has these hot streaks so I do not understand the hype. He started his regression last week and if he plays he will have his worst game of the season. If Winston plays its a complete wild card for me, im not really sure what to expect but i hope it would divide what i see as a fragile locker room. On D they have a few key pieces to account for but otherwise do not scare me. I think the Bears offense will look much like it has the last 3 games.

This is a game this Bears team needs to win to continue moving forward. I'd love to see Trubisky come out and shred them, but I don't think that's realistic. We are however past due for a skill position player to break one of these screens loose and make a play. Trubisky 25/35 for 240 yards and 2 total TD(1 may be rushing) with 1 turnover early. Howard hovers around 75 yards rushing and 100 total yards. Cohen or Gabriel will be the player to break a big play while Burton and Robinson continue to put up solid games. The Bears dominate in time of possession.

The D will absolutely dominate this game and only the offense's struggles keep this close. Mack finally played a full game last week. This week i think we see a version of Mack that is finally near 100% ready to go, as awesome and terrfying as that will be. He leads the way again with 7 tackles, 2 for loss, 3 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Hicks, Floyd, Trevathian and Nichols all add sacks. Special teams continue to play well this week.

Bears win again! 20-10

malk · Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:52 am

Football Outsiders' stats are giving some tasty figures for our defence!

We're the top rated defence overall and split into 3rd against the pass and 4th against the rush. Their defensive line stats have us 3rd in adjusted line yards (yards attributed to the d line) and 1st in adjusted sack rate.

These are obvious already taking into account the two blown coverages in the Arizona game so christ knows what they'd be if we hadn't dropped the ball there.

For the coming week, they have Tampa rock bottom of offensive lines for running the ball. GB and Arizona are 10th and 16th. If we can play our normal game stuffing the run then we'll really be able to pin back our ears and get after a pass happy offence. Their pass protection has been pretty decent so far but we're going to be absolutely gunning for them, should be fun to watch.

Funkster · Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:40 am

After a couple of blown coverages, that resulted in 14 early cardinal points, the bears defense went into monster mode and wreaked havoc on the cards offense.

Punt
Punt
Punt
Interception
Interception
Fumble Recovery
Interception

The above resulted in 3 quarters of zero points for the cards. My point is, everyone is hyped about “fitzmagic” but to quote Mike Tyson, "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." The bears defense will be doing the punching. We’ve seen Fitzpatrick put up big numbers before, we’ve also seen him thrown multiple interceptions when pressured.

Defensive player to watch:
Mack
Hicks (IMO, isn’t getting anywhere near enough credit)
Fuller (he has to come up big this game)

The bears offense is still a work in progress. They have been taking positive steps and are looking better each week. Coach Nagy gave Howard more meaningful reps and decreased building a game plan with Cohen as a focal point. He opted to sprinkle him in in high percentage situations. Thumbs up coach Nagy!

The passing game is sometimes hard to watch, I hate when any player gets hurts but I think Miller going down might be a blessing in disguise. IMO, the bears receiving corps is fielding to much of the same player, they need some variety and this might force that. The 22 shows Trubisky isn’t getting any help from his receivers getting separation. He is having to throw into tight windows with pressure in his face, most of the time falling away. He doesn’t have the arm strength to do this. Inaccurate throws, interceptions or near interception are the result of poor foot work. His receivers or scheme will have to create some separation to help him out while he gets more comfortable in this offense.

Offensive players to watch:
Trubisky (this offense will go as far as he’ll take them)
Howard (the engine that could)
Robinson (Trubisky seems to be gaining trust in him and he should target this beast of a receiver often)

Bears 28
Bucs 17

Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:53 pm

Not that PFT's thoughts matter much, but here are their picks for the game:

Buccaneers at Bears

MDS’s take: I’m a big believer in Ryan Fitzpatrick, and much less a believer in Mitchell Trubisky. I’m taking the Buccaneers in an upset.

MDS’s pick: Buccaneers 24, Bears 21.

Florio’s take: It’s an NFC Central reunion, and the Chicago defense is good enough to keep Ryan Fitzpatrick in check. The only question is whether he struggles enough to open the door for Jameis Winston.

Florio’s pick: Bears 23, Buccaneers 16.

Richie · Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:20 pm

Tampa has no run game to this point. I doubt that it suddenly makes an impact on the road against our front seven.

They're going to have to throw a lot. Which I think benefits us. Our pass rush will be able to pin their ears back and go. I am keeping an outside prayer going that they turn to the rusty and much less mobile Winston. However, I find it highly unlikely.

Tampa has a fine crop of weapons in the pass game between Evans, Jackson, Godwin and Howard. Roquan's athleticism could potentially be pivotal in helping to shutdown Howard going down the middle. Prince is likely out, but I think the pass rush and the rest of the secondary has been good enough to help cover his ass.

To be honest... Overall, I just like this matchup. Our strength on D matches up with their strength and they're really a one trick pony. Their D has not been impressive (90 points in 3 games or something...) and they've gotten shredded by opposing QB's.

It could be a good opportunity for Trub to have a corner turning game. Just saying...

I like us in this spot. Bucs begin their descent back to Earth and people realize Fitzpatrick has done this before... and he always crashes on the other side.

Bears 27
Tampa 17

Richie · Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:26 pm

wab wrote:Not that PFT's thoughts matter much, but here are their picks for the game:

Buccaneers at Bears

MDS’s take: I’m a big believer in Ryan Fitzpatrick, and much less a believer in Mitchell Trubisky. I’m taking the Buccaneers in an upset.

MDS’s pick: Buccaneers 24, Bears 21.

This is one of the biggest fallacies I see on a consistent basis from analysts or just regular people previewing/predicting a football game. They evaluate the matchup as though it's two QB's squaring off against one another individually. I remember hearing this last year with Jacksonville/Bortles in the post-season when they played Pittsburgh and New England.

"Ha! So Bortles is going to beat Ben!"... "You're telling me Blake Bortles is going to beat Tom Brady!"

I am FAIRLY certain that the two opposing QB's are NEVER on the field at the same time in an NFL football game. So phrasing the game in that manner might be fun for hype trailers on commercials, but it has no place in reality.

What happened in the two above games? Jacksonville beat the damn Steelers and then got as close as you can get to knocking off New England in Foxboro. Why? Because those two QB's had to face Jacksonville's elite defense... not Blake Bortles.

Fitzpatrick and the Bucs are offense are playing the Bears defense. Not Mitchell Trubisky.

Trubisky and the Bears offense are playing the Bucs defense. Not Ryan Fitzpatrick.

It's just lazy... and a pet peeve. As you can tell. lol

Thu Sep 27, 2018 4:37 pm

Cooper's on the injury report with a hamstring himself. Kevin Tolliver's gonna be the starter Sunday, and that, my friends, is not good at all.

Bears Whiskey Nut · Thu Sep 27, 2018 5:00 pm

UOK wrote:Cooper's on the injury report with a hamstring himself. Kevin Tolliver's gonna be the starter Sunday, and that, my friends, is not good at all.

I am assuming then that they are going to have to bracket Mike Evans with Toliver and Eddie Jackson. That means that they will rely on Roquan to cover the RB, and Callahan to cover Godwin out of the slot. Yikes.

docc · Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:20 pm

I have been informed that "we" (Wife, son, and 11 month old grandson) will be going up the mountain to
Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley Octoberfest.. Will be very chilly maybe not even 70* at about 8500 ft.. My home is only a mile or so from the road up.. 26 miles to top..Summerhaven Az..

Time: 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Hopefully I get to see most of the game..but have to stream..(MST 10AM start)

Anyone know a radio stream I can get on phone here out of area? WBBM ?