Bears and Bucs at a Glance

Chicago Bears (0-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

Kickoff: Noon, Sunday.

Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL

TV: Fox (Joe Davis, Daryl Johnston, Pam Oliver)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

Streaming: fuboTV (watch with free trial)

The Series: The 62nd meeting. The Bears hold a 40-21 advantage, and are 17-15 in Tampa. The Buccaneers won the last meeting in 2021 38-3 in Tampa. The last Bears win came in Chicago in 2020.

The Line: Buccaneers by 2 1/2 (Over/under 41).

The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 3-15 in his second season. His Bears haven't played Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles is 35-50 in his seventh season as a head coach. He is 9-9 with Tampa Bay and 0-1 against the Bears, having lost to them 24-10 in 2018 at Soldier Field as head coach of the Jets.

At Stake: The Buccaneers look to start 2-0 for the third straight year while the Bears are hoping to snap an 11-game losing streak. The Bears will be without defensive coordinator Alan Williams for personal reasons and Eberflus will handle calling defenses in addition to managing the game. Quarterback Justin Fields looks for his sixth win in 27 starts. The last Bears win came Oct. 24, 2022 against New England.

Injury Report: Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon went on injured reserve and his backup Josh Blackwell is out (hamstring). Guard Nate Davis is doubtful following a reported death in his family. ... Tampa Bay cornerback Carlton Davis (toe), defensive lineman Calijah Kancey (calf) and linebacker Sirvocea Dennis (hamstring) are out. Safety Christian Izien (concussion) is questionable).

Last Week: The Bears opened by losing 38-20 to Green Bay at Soldier Field as the defense allowed three second-half touchdowns and Fields threw a pick-6 to Quay Walker. Packers QB Jordan Love made his Green Bay debut as the team's official starter and threw three TD passes. The Bears were down 10-6 at halftime. Fields went 24 of 37 for 216 yards with a TD, interception and 78.2 passer rating last week. He also rushed for 59 yards on nine attempts. Bears running backs combined for just 63 of the team's 122 yards rushing last week and averaged 3.3 yards per attempt. WR DJ Moore was targeted only two times in his Bears debut and had two catches for 25 yards. Wide receiver Chase Claypool had no receptions.

Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield led a 20-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis. Chase McLaughlin broke a tie with a 57-yard field goal with 5:10 remaining for the winning points. Mayfield, the QB in Cleveland who beat the Bears in 2021, went 21 of 34 for 173 yards and two TDs with a 94.4 passer rating against the Vikings last week. The Buccaneers defense had three takeaways and since Bowles came to Tampa as defensive coordinator the Buccaneers are fifth in turnovers forced (105). Mike Evans had six catches for 66 yards and Chris Godwin five for 51 against Minnesota last week for Tampa Bay.

Matching Up: The Bears are 15th on offense, 17th at passing and eighth in rushing. Chicago is 21st on defense, 25th against the pass and 12th stopping the run. The Bears are 16th in scoring and 31st in scoring defense.

The Buccaneers are 26th on offense, 19th passing and 25th at rushing. Tampa Bay is 27th on defense, 30th against the pass and No. 1 against the run. They are 16th in scoring and 12th in scoring defense.

Notable: Fields has 13 games with 50-plus yards rushing. Moore last year had two catches or less four times. ... Mike Evans had six catches for 66 yards and Chris Godwin five for 51 against Minnesota last week for Tampa Bay. ... Tampa Bay either drafted or signed as undrafted free agents 72.7% of the players on the roster, the third-highest NFL percentage of home-grown players. ... Godwin has five-plus receptions in a franchise-record-tying 15 consecutive regular-season games, the longest active streak in the NFL.

Next Week

The Bears are at Kansas City at 3:25 p.m. on Sunday.

The Buccaneers host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.

Betting Trends

Tampa Bay has failed to cover in three of its last four home games or in six of its last eight games overall.

The Bears have failed to cover in five of the last seven road and seen of the last 11 games overall.

The Bears failed to cover in eight of the 13 games as underdogs last year.

The Bears hit the over in 10 of their 17 games last year and did last week again in a 38-20 loss to the Packers.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears LG Cody Whitehair vs. Buccaneers DT Vita Vea

Vea is a monster on the line to handle at 6-4, 347 and goes against the 31-year=old Bears veteran. Vea has 18 career sacks, so he is not simply playing as a run plug, although he does that well, too. In the 2020 and 2021 against the Bears he made six tackles, two for loss, a sack, fumble recovery and deflected a pass. Whitehair did not have a strong start against Green Bay and ranks 50th out of guards graded by Pro Football Focus.

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans

At 6-5, 231, Evans has the capability to play all over the field. He started the season last week off with a TD catch and six receptions for 66 yards. Mayfield targeted him 10 times in that game. Now in his 10th season, Evans has been remarkably consistent. Johnson could cover him all over the field but the presence of Chris Godwin makes that unlikely. Johnson, who had three tackles but no pass breakups last week, gives up 5 inches and 25 pounds to Evans. In 2021, Evans made six catches for 76 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears.

Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson vs. Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin

Godwin had five catches for 55 yards in the opening win by Tampa Bay at Minnesota and Stevenson is coming off a respectable debut outing in which he laid a few big hits on receivers but also gave up three passes when targeted five times, including a touchdown. Godwin had eight receptions for 111 yards and a TD in the last matchup he had with the Bears in 2021 when Johnson was in his second season.

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Buccaneers CB Jamel Dean

Moore's ability to beat the blitzing Buccaneers defense has led to big numbers the last eight times he faced them. He had 53 receptions in those games for 704 yards. His ability to take screens and short gains for big yardage has been important in those games against the blitz. Dean is part of the starting cornerback tandem the Buccaneers have but Carlton Davis will msis the game with a toe injury. Dean has seven career interceptions and made four pass breakups in his first game against the Bears in 2020.

Bears T Braxton Jones vs. Buccaneers LB Shaq Barrett

After a torn Achilles tendon last year, Barrett seems to have made a remarkable recovery and had two quarterback hits last week without a sack. He had good pressure from the edge. Jones suffered through what seemed an inconsistent effort with four penalty flags and appeared to allow a sack, although Pro Football Focus did not give him blame for this in its grades. Jones has good strength and can use bull rushes, something Jones has had problems handling.

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