Week 5 Pre-Gamin’: BEARS vs. BUCCANEERS (7:20 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy nails it when he says the team should be happy to be 3-1, but not excited about it.

A 3-1 record is far better than an alternative where the numbers in the won-loss column are flipped. But the one loss left an awful taste in my mouth. And while Sunday’s loss was a step in the wrong direction, a quick turnaround to Thursday provides an opportunity to get right.

After all, we didn’t need a few extra days of gnashing our teeth while the Week 4 loss gnawed at us.

Get hyped:

Game Info

Chicago Bears (3-1) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1), 7:20 p.m. CT on FOX-TV and NFL Network (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Kristina Pink), Amazon Prime (Hannah Storm, Andrea Kremer), WBBM-AM 780 and WCFS-FM 105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote), Westwood One (Kevin Harlan, Tony Boselli)

Odds: Bears (+3.5, -117), Over/Under 44.5, via the DraftKings Sportsbook.

Week 5 Game Thread (Preview)

Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun. Let’s get the Bears back in the win column.

Coaches

Matt Nagy (23-13) vs. Bruce Arians (59-40-1 overall, 10-10 with Buccaneers)

Starting Quarterbacks

Bears: Nick Foles

Last week vs. Colts: 26/42 (61.9%), 249 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 76.4 rating

versus

Buccaneers: Tom Brady 

Last week vs. Chargers: 30/46 (65.2%), 369 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 117.0 rating

Bears Expected Starters

Offense

•   QB Nick Foles
•   RB David Montgomery
•   WR Allen Robinson II
•   TEs Jimmy Graham, Demetrius Harris, Cole Kmet
•   LT Charles Leno Jr., LG James Daniels, C Cody Whitehair, RG Germain Ifedi, RT Bobby Massie

Defense

•   DT Akiem Hicks, NT Bilal Nichols, DE Roy Robertson-Harris
•   OLBs Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn
•   ILBs Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan
•   CBs Kyle Fuller, Jaylon Johnson
•   FS Eddie Jackson
•   SS Tashaun Gipson Sr.

Specialists

•   Cairo Santos (kicker), Pat O’Donnell (punter, holder), Patrick Sales (long snapper), Cordarrelle Patterson (kick returns), Ted Ginn Jr. (punt returns)

Buccaneers Expected Starters:

Offense

•   QB Tom Brady
•   RB Ronald Jones II
•   WRs Mike Evans, Scotty Miller
•   TEs Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate
•   LT Donovan Smith, LG Ali Marpet, C Ryan Jensen, RG Alex Cappa, RT Tristan Wirfs

Defense

•   DE Ndamukong Suh, NT Vita Vea, DE William Gholston Justin Houston
•   OLBs Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul
•   ILBs Devin White, Lavonte David
•   CBs Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting
•   Ss Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead

Specialists

•   Ryan Succop (kicker), Bradley Pinion (punter, holder), Zach Triner (long snapper), Jaydon Mickens (kick and punt returns)

Bears Inactives:

Buccaneers Inactives:

 

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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