Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears: 3 Keys to the Game
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Chicago Bears on Sunday as they look to remain undefeated at Raymond James Stadium this season.
Here are three keys to the game for the Bucs to secure victory in Week 7:
1. Force Chicago to throw the ball
Typically, I would be writing that the Bucs would want to avoid dealing with teams throwing against them, but this week is different.
The Bears rank dead last in passing the ball while averaging 117.2 yards through the air. Compare that to Tampa Bay's NFL-leading 340.7 passing yards per game, the Bucs should be able to handle Chicago's passing attack this weekend.
This game provides an opportunity for Tampa Bay's secondary, one that is lacking a number of key players, to gain some confidence when facing an abysmal Chicago offense, that ranks last as well in total offense.
The Bucs need to help out their secondary by pressuring the Bears and putting them in long-yardage situations so that Chicago doesn't run the ball. The Bucs should be able to pressure either Justin Fields or Andy Dalton, considering the Bears have allowed a league-high 22 sacks.
2. Protect QB Tom Brady
If there's one thing the Bears do well, it's getting to the quarterback.
Led by Khalil Mack, Chicago leads the league with 21 total sacks. As a matter of fact, the Bears have limited opponents to just over 200 passing yards a game, which ranks 8th in the NFL.
Mack has the longest active sack streak in the NFL at 5 consecutive games. Against the Bucs specifically, Mack is looking for his fourth in a row vs. Tampa Bay with at least one sack and 2 or more tackles for loss.
The Bucs, of course, have done a good job protecting Tom Brady this season only allowing 9 sacks, which is tied for 5th least, but they'll have their hands full when facing Chicago's front-seven on Sunday.
3. Play disciplined football
If you didn't watch the Bucs beat the Eagles and only look at the final score, you might think it was a close game. Tampa Bay escaped Philadelphia 28-22 but the game was much different from the final round.
So what helped the Eagles? Outside of impressive play from quarterback Jalen Hurts late in the game, the Bucs were penalized 7 times for 120 yards... that's right over 100 yards in penalties.
It's hard to win a football game regardless of your opponent when you are flagged for that amount of yards and the Bucs must be more disciplined against the Bears.
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