Week 7 Pre-Gamin’: BEARS at BUCCANEERS (3:25 PM CT) Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

It was nice to see this tweet from NBC Sports Chicago’s Adam Hoge…

…because this is when it should matter that the head coach is seeing the big picture.

The Chicago Bears enter Week 7 off a soul-crushing loss. And there is no time to throw a pity party when Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers are sitting across the field. So this would make for a good time for Matt Nagy’s A-game. Because this team can ill-afford a clunker one week after publicly being owned by Aaron Rodgers. Both figuratively and literally, as well as by way of hyperbole.

We’ll soon find out about #TheCulture that President Ted Phillips spoke so highly of in the offseason. And we’ll get a better glimpse of who these Bears are, in terms of big-picture thinking. Let’s keep it real. Teams don’t show their identity when they lose. Instead, it’s how a team responds from adversity that is most telling. In other words, it’ll be a rough look if the Bears fall flat in a game after the week they’ve had with social media distractions and a breakout of COVID cases. But if they show some resilience, then we can discuss the possibility of treading water for the time being.

All the games feel big when it’s just a 17-game season. But this one has an extra layer.

Game Info

Chicago Bears (3-3) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1) – on CBS-TV (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson), WBBM-AM 780 and WCFS-FM 105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Kickoff time: 3:25 p.m. CT
Site:
 Raymond James Stadium; Tampa, Fla.
Referee: Alex Kemp
Odds: Bears +11.5 (-110), O/U 47 (via DraftKings Sports Book)

Game Thread (Week 7 Preview)

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

Hype Video

Coaches

Bears Matt Nagy (31-23) vs. Buccaneers Bruce Arians (72-45-1, 23-15 with TB)

Starting Quarterbacks and Projected Game Stats

BEARS: Justin Fields: 20/31, 219 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 4 carries, 16 rushing yards

versus

BUCS: Tom Brady: 27/40, 312 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; 2 carries, 2 yards

Projected stats via ESPN projections

Bears Offense (Projected Starters in Bold)

RB Khalil Herbert
Reserves: Damien Williams, Ryan Nall

WR Allen Robinson II, Darnell Mooney, Marquise Goodwin
Reserves: Damiere Byrd, Jakeem Grant

TE Cole Kmet
Reserves: Jesse James, Jesper Horsted

LT Jason Peters
LG Cody Whitehair
C Sam Mustipher
RG James Daniels
RT Alex Bars 

Reserves: Arlington Hambright, Lachavious Simmons, Dieter Eiselen

Bears Defense

DT Angelo Blackson
NT Eddie Goldman

DE Bilal Nichols

Reserves: Khyiris Tonga, Mario Edwards Jr., Margus Hunt

OLB Khalil Mack, Trevis Gipson
Reserves: Sam Kamara, Christian Jones

ILB Roquan Smith, Alec Ogletree
Reserves: Danny Trevathan, Joel Iyiegbuniwe

CB Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor
Reserves: Duke Shelley, Xavier Crawford, Artie Burns

S Eddie Jackson, DeAndre Houston-Carson
Reserves: Marqui Christian, Teez Tabor

Bears Special Teams

Cairo Santos (kicker), Pat O’Donnell (punter), Patrick Scales (long-snapper), Khalil Herbert (kick returns), Jakeem Grant (punts)

Bears Inactives

Buccaneers Projected Starters

Offense
•   QB Tom Brady
•   RB Ronald Jones II, Leonard Fournette Jr.
•   WRs Mike Evans, Chris Godwin,
•   TE O.J. Howard
•   LT Donovan Smith, LG Ali Marpet, C Ryan Jensen, RG Alex Cappa, RT Tristan Wirfs

Defense
•   DLs Ndamukong Suh, William Gholston, NT Vita Vea
•   OLBs Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaquil Barrett; ILBs Devin White, K.J. Britt
•   CBs Carlton Davis III, Jamel Dean
•   S Antoine Winfield Jr.,  Jordan Whitehead

Specialists
•   Ryan Succop (kicker), Bradley Pinion (punter, holder), Carson Tinker (long snapper), Jaydon Mickens (kick and punt returns)

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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