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Tampa Bay at Chicago – Well, my prediction was wrong.
I had assumed that Tampa Bay was getting hot, and that Brady and company were prepared to win a big game in the Windy City to establish themselves as a bona fide, legitimate contender in the NFC.
But the Bears needed this win, as well. Probably more than Tampa Bay needed it. After all, they just lost at home to the Colts, and could ill afford in principle to lose a second straight home game. On top of that, they are the only team right now in the NFC North who appears to have a chance of keeping up with the Packers in the divisional race, and that would have been compromised - greatly compromised, even if we are barely more than a quarter way through the regular season - if they fell behind by two games, and lost their earlier momentum in the process.
So this one wound up being a real battled between the two teams. The Bucs with an explosive offense that the Bears defense was able to contain better than any other team has so far this season. And Chicago's offense, while hardly explosive itself, barely managing to produce just enough to come out on top, right at the end.
The win keeps Chicago among the relative elites in the NFC at 4-1, and they remain right on the heels of the division leading Packers. As for Tampa, it is a disappointing loss, but they will still be on top of the division standings after this week in the NFL, although it might be a shared lead with the Saints and/or the Panthers.
A huge win for Chicago, but these two teams will still have an impact on one another for at least another week. Fresh off this win, the Bears will next go to Carolina to try and tackle the Panthers, in a game that obviously will impact both the NFC North and the NFC South. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers will next host the Packers, in yet another game that will clearly be of interest to the teams in those same two divisions, as well.
My pick: Inaccurate
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