On Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take on the Chicago Bears. Kickoff is set for 8:20 P.M. Eastern at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Many of the Thursday night games so far this year have been between teams that won’t be competing in the postseason. This week, fans are treated with a matchup between two 3-1 teams with a lot of hope.
Brady Changing Culture in Tampa Bay
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians talked about the difference between this year and last in Tampa Bay. The difference in Tom Brady. The Buccaneers are never out of a game, and that is due to their quarterback.
Brady led a late rally to beat the Charger last week 38-31. He threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns. That put them ahead of Carolina and New Orleans as the sole team leading in the NFC South.
They also beat the Broncos and Panthers, with their only loss being in the first week against the Saints.
Brady has plenty of weapons in Tampa Bay, and one of those is Mike Evans. He had seven receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown against the Chargers.
This Bucs team is aiming for a Super Bowl. Without knowing how much time Brady has left, they have only one goal this season. If Brady continues to play like he did last week, they are going to have a chance.
Foles or Trubisky?
At the start of the season, Mitchell Trubisky was the quarterback in Chicago. However, after struggling against the Falcons, Nick Foles made an appearance.
Foles threw for three touchdowns in the comeback against Atlanta and secured his new spot as the starting quarterback. While comebacks against the Falcons have been easy to come by this season, Foles still impressed.
But in his first game as the starter against the Colts last week, Foles struggled. He threw for 249 yards, adding one touchdown and one interception.
Foles needs to find some of the magic that he had in Philadelphia a couple of years ago. If he continues to play like that, this decision might go back-and-forth a bit more.
But I believe he will keep the starting job. He has had success in his career and has proven his ability behind center. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him lead a decent Bears team, but I’m not positive they can hang with the best in the league.
Prediction
The spread on this game favors the Buccaneers by 3.5 points, and the over/under is set at 44.5.
I love taking the Buccaneers here, and believe that is the bet to make. Brady can come out after a short week and play better than Foles as a new starter.
I believe the Buccaneers won’t have a problem scoring, but I’m not sure about the Bears. If I were to place a bet there, I’d take the under, given the Bears are still struggling to find an offensive identity. I feel much more confident in the point spread bet, where the Buccaneers are the bet to make.