Seppos’s NFL Previews #4

Week 5 Thursday Night Football

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Chicago Bears

I always try to guess what the line is going to be before doing my research and making picks. Before taking any recent injuries into account I thought the line would be around 6.6, and the total would be approximately 48.

Last week the Bucs defence gave up over 30 points to a rookie with a sometimes shaky offensive line. This Bucs defence is very similar to previous years' group in that their run defence is top-notch. Still, their pass defence is young and inconsistent. Although the Bucs have injury issues to their primary playmakers, Tom Brady has routinely excelled when given little to work with on offence.

Due to the lack of top offences they have matched up with early in the season, both defences are being overrated. Neither team has much of a pass rush at the moment(the Bucs is improving but still not great), and last year relied on key key players for the majority of their sacks. Due to injury and inconsistency both Khalil Back and Shaq Barrett, respectively, have not played like they did last year. Due to the Trubisky effect making the offence seem much worse then it is, I expect people to underrate the Bears offence for the next few weeks. Still, this is very similar to the Doppler effect, in which you don't realise how loud(bad) something is until it has already passed you.

Last week was an aberration for the Bears, they were going against one of the best defences in the league, as well as going against a coach who has first-hand experience knowing his strengths and weaknesses.