The Chicago Bears will travel to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 7 matchup.
The Bears are currently tied for second in the NFC North at 3-3 and are coming off a 24-14 home loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Justin Fields struggled as he went 16-of-27 for 174 yards and a touchdown. The Buccaneers are leading the NFC South with a 5-1 record and are coming off a 28-22 road win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Tom Brady went 34-of-42 for 297 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
To the Mooney
The Chicago Bears have a good passing attack, and wide receiver Darnell Mooney has been leading the way. So far this season, he has 25 receptions for 306 yards (12.2 yards per catch) with a touchdown.
In his last game against Green Bay, Mooney finished with five receptions on eight targets for 45 yards (9.0 yards per catch) with a touchdown. If the Bears can figure out how to get the ball going, it will do wonders for the Bears’ offense.
The Chicago Bears have been a solid defensive team as they are allowing 20.7 points per game. In their previous game against the Green Bay Packers, they gave up 24 points on 323 total yards of offense (169 passing, 154 rushing).
The defense did a good job at stopping drives as the Packers were just 2-of-8 on third down and converted their only fourth down attempt. If the defense can match that here, it will put them in a position to win this game.
Leading the Team
Without Antonio Brown or Rob Gronkowski active for this game, wide receiver Mike Evans needs to step up here. So far this season, he has 31 receptions for 420 yards (13.5 yards per catch) and four touchdowns.
In his last game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Evans finished with a pair of catches on four targets for 27 yards (13.5 yards per receptions). If he can be more of a factor in this game, it will really help out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been a decent defensive team this season as they are allowing 24 points per game. In their previous game against the Philadelphia Eagles, they gave up 22 points on 213 total yards of offense (113 passing, 100 rushing).
The Bucs need to limit the rush as the Eagles ran for 5.3 yards per attempt. If they can fix that, they will be in the driver’s seat for this game.
Who to Bet
Even with Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski already listed as out for this game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be able to win here at home. The difference is offensive as the Bears are scoring 16.3 points per game while the Bucs are scoring almost double that at 32.5 points.
I trust Tom Brady to have a good game as in his last five games; he has 13 touchdowns to only a single interception. Tampa Bay has covered in six of the last seven home games, so go the Bucs to cover the spread here as well.