Bears vs Bucs: Week 2 Preview with The Pewter Plank

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. First off, let me pass along my best to everyone affected by Hurricane Irma. I hope everyone down there is doing well. I made the trip to Tampa last season for the Bears – Bucs and it was a great time. Great town with very cool fans, so I hope everyone is doing well down there.

1. Do the Bucs have an advantage heading into Week 2 coming off an unplanned bye and Week 1 tape to watch on the Bears while the Bears have nothing to go on besides preseason games and Hard Knocks episodes?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It’s certainly an advantage from some standpoints, but not all. We saw a rather sloppy first week of football across the entire NFL as teams truly get into the swing of things, so the Buccaneers haven’t gotten that rust out. This is a team that hasn’t had the full first-team offense on the field since the second preseason game, so outside of practice, it’s been a while since that starting unit has worked together which is difficult with so many new pieces.

That said, it certainly is an advantage that the Bucs have film on the Bears while the Bears have to go off vanilla preseason play calling and Glennon’s knowledge of the team. Although the look of the offense may be slightly different given the additions of DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard, and Chris Godwin plus the loss of Doug Martin, Glennon will still have an understanding of the scheme head coach Dirk Koetter runs as well as certain looks they’re sure to use.