Chicago Bears: Biggest Key to Beating Tampa Bay Buccaneers

If the Chicago Bears want to improve to 3-1 heading into their bye week, they must do this to make it happen.

The Chicago Bears have a winning record for the first time in four years. If the Bears want to keep their head above .500 heading into their bye week, they are going to have to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Most analysts thought the Bucs would be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year, but Ryan Fitzpatrick, better known as “FitzMagic” has led the team to a 2-1 start and one of the most prolific passing attacks in the NFL.

Last week, Fitzpatrick became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for 400 yards in three consecutive games. Fitzpatrick likes to push the ball down the field and he has weapons to utilize deep in Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson.

The Bears’ defense is better than anything the Bucs’ offense has faced at this point, and the defense will hold the key to victory once again. The Bucs defense is porous so Mitch Trubisky and the offense should be able to move the ball. Whether or not they have more red zone success will be up to Trubisky, but even if they struggle, there should be plenty of field goal attempts for Cody Parkey.

But the bigger key to this game is going to be the defense and how they handle Fitzpatrick and the Bucs passing attack. With Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper already ruled out, that means Kevin Toliver is going to start opposite Kyle Fuller and that’s going to be a match up that Fitzpatrick is going to be able to exploit.

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If Fitzpatrick’s strength is going to be getting large chunks of yards at a time, that means the key to the game is going to be to take advantage of Fitzpatrick’s weakness and that is turnovers.

FitzMagic turns the ball over. That’s always been his issue. He only threw one interception combined in the team’s first two victories, but in faltering last week to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions. The key to this game is making sure Fitzpatrick turns the ball over, and you want to make sure he does it at a higher clip than the Bears do.

If the Bears win turnover margin this week, they should win. If the turnover margin is equal, it might be fair to give the edge to Tampa, but as long as the Bears win the turnover margin, even if it’s 3 to 2, that should be enough to have the Bears dictate the tempo of the game.

Eddie Jackson could be in line for a big game. Jackson is a ballhawk who makes big plays and when Fitzpatrick airs it out, safety help from Jackson could result in one, perhaps even two interceptions for the second-year safety.

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If the Bears turn Fitzpatrick over, it should mean good things for the team. Chicago should be able to bring pressure to Fitzpatrick without blitzing, and the more pass defenders the Bears have covering receivers, the more likely it is that Fitzpatrick will miss something in coverage and throw it to the wrong color.

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