Week 5 Thursday Night Football

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Chicago Beers

Match-up Insight

On the surface, this matchup of 3-1 teams looks to be a battle of terrific defence, but in reality, there are matchup issues on both sides that prove this match can go the distance.

The Bears offence was horrible last week, but in fact, the game for them was worse than you can imagine. With no Tarik Cohen and Nick Foles under centre, this team is changing tact to becoming a passing football team. Unfortunately for them last week the Colts defence was more than ready for the pass, with some of the best shutdown secondary play we have seen so far this season. Colts coach Frank Reich has an in-depth knowledge of Nick Foles tendencies with being Foles' former co-ordinator. This week Foles gets a secondary that was torched for 290 yards, 3tds and 80% completion last week by a rookie.

With 2 of the top 5 run-blocking units and injuries to both these teams backfields, we're not going to see a lot of ball running. Instead, forcing these teams into throwing the ball and finding the mismatches in the secondaries. For Tampa Bay, their top 3 receivers are all under an injury cloud, and their plethora of tight ends are starting to whittle down. I don't see this as much of an issue with the loss of pass-catchers here as long as 1 or 2 find their way onto the field and Gronk looks like he'll be fit to be able to help cover Mack.

The tight-ends on both sides are going to play huge roles in this game in their blocking and red zone assignments, as both teams have shown their susceptibility to being caught out by the big guys. Expect the RBs to be prominent in the passing game Ke' shawn Vaughn is a smokey to have an outstanding performance.

The Last Word

The last time these 2 QBs played a primetime game together Foles managed to win and take all the marbles, Brady doesn't forget these things and his drive to win this game will be off the charts. Short weeks and Thursday night football have been torture for secondaries who do not have time to prepare for the match, and I expect no different here.

About the Author

Caveman and his wife Mary reside in Ireland and are proud parents to the world’s greatest dog, Thor. Originally from New Zealand and a Vikings Fan, Caveman has been one of the top Fantasy Football players for over a decade, as in, in his fantasies’ he is a top football player.