The banged up Buccaneers will head to Chicago for the first of five prime time games this season for Brady and company.
The Bucs will play with just healthy two running backs if leonard Fournette cannot play on Thursday.
Ronald jones and K’Shawn Vaughan will be the only running backs available.
LeSean McCoy is out and KenJon Barner has been suspended for four games for violation of the leagues drug policy. It is doubtful that Barner would have been able to play anyway. Barner suffered a concussion in the Chargers game and has not been cleared to resume to football activities.
The Bucs will also be without wide receivers Chris Godwin and Justin Watson, while Mike Evans and Scotty Miller are listed as probable on the injury report.
The Bucs will also be without tight end OJ Howard who is done for the season with a torn ACL.
The Buccaneers are 3-1 and will be going for a their first 4-1 start in 15 years. The Bucs were most impressive in the second half last week coming back from a 24-7 deficit to win the game 38-31.
The Bears come into the game with a 3-1 record after losing 19-11 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday snapping their three game winning streak.
The Bears have already changed quarterbacks this season. Mitch Trubisky won the job in training camp, but was beaten out by Nick Foles after just three starts.
Foles replaced Trubisky in the comeback win in Atlanta,
Foles looked very mediocre in the loss to the Colts completing 26/42 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
David Montgomery is the Bears number one running back, but struggled against the Colts with 27 yards on 10 carries.
The Bucs will lean on Ronald Jones to carry the load at running back. Jones had 128 total yards running and receiving and that workload will continue in Chicago.
Ke’Shawn Vaughan should see more touches after he made his NFL debut last week and scored his first NFL touchdown.
The Bucs defense will have their hands full with Bears receiver Allan Robinson. Robinson is in the top 10 in receiving yards and this will will be another good test for the young secondary.
The Bears also use tight end Jimmy Graham primarily as a receiver. Graham is second on the team with 14 catches.
The Buccaneers defense is fourth in the NFL giving up 312 yards a game. The Bucs run defense is second in the league behind Pittsburgh giving up 64 yards a game.
We could see the debut of rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson with Godwin and Watson out Thursday night.
Cyril Grayson and Jayden Mickens should get see some action at wide receiver.
Another test in Chicago Will be coming for offensive linemen Tristan Wirfs. Wirfs will see some matchups against Bears linebacker Khalil Mack who is the best player on the Bears defense.
Last week, Wirfs was up against Joey Bosa almost of the afternoon and kept Bosa in check as Brady was not sacked once in the Chargers Game.
This is a game that will not be easy for teh bucs to put in the win column.
I do believe the Bucs have their better team and will get of Chicago with a win. It will be a close game. I see the Bucs winning 24-21 to go to 4-1 on the season.
