After having their bye week swapped to week one, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open their season against their former QB Mike Glennon.
Week One for Chicago was their home opener against the reigning NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons. While the team didn’t look awful, you can tell they don’t have the personnel a playoff-contending team needs.
Keys to the Game:
For Tampa Bay, one of their biggest keys must be pass rush. Last week against Atlanta, Mike Glennon couldn’t seem to stay cool when blitzed. But when the Falcons defense dropped into coverage, only rushing three-to-four defenders, Glennon was able to pick apart the Atlanta secondary.
Something else they must keep an eye on is Tarik Cohen, who was a big part of Chicago’s offensive success in week one. The Bears game plan clearly involved a lot of Cohen, but also gave Jordan Howard his touches.
Another big part of the game that is overlooked is special teams. Bryan Anger has proven to be one of the best punters in all of the league, but newly-acquired Nick Folk has to put the ball between the goal posts nearly every time in order for the Bucs to pull out this win.
Offensively, the goal is clear: get in the end zone. With multiple additions to the offensive firepower, the Bucs offense now has very excuses when it comes to not putting the ball in the end zone.
The week 10 match up between the two teams last year ended in a rout of Chicago, with Jameis Winston having a field day, posting 312 yards and two touchdowns, including the ‘Play of the Year’ to some, where Winston evaded pressure back into his own end zone, then airing it out to Mike Evans. Bucs’ coaches and fans hope to see a lot of the same this week.
Predictions:
The Bears have had a full four quarters played against a super bowl contending team, while Tampa Bay’s starters haven’t played since week three of the preseason. They will come into Raymond James with determination after losing last weeks affair by less than a touchdown.
Defense is now the name of the game for Tampa Bay, to me. The interior defense must outplay the Bears on Sunday in order to win, otherwise they will control the entire game. Like I said, although the Bucs have more talent on both sides of the ball, Chicago has already had a full game to shake the rust off.
I am going to give the Bucs the win, but not how most expect the game to go. I think it will be ugly at some points, but because Winston continues to improve, I think him and the offense will find a way to pull away with the win this week in game one.
Tampa wins 23-20
