NFL News & Analysis

NFL Week 7 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, Chicago Bears 3

Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws the ball against the Chicago Bears during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers smashed the Chicago Bears 38-3 in Week 7 as Tom Brady threw his 600th career touchdown pass. The touchdown throw was one of four on the day, three of which went to Mike Evans.

This was another rough outing for Justin Fields, who threw three interceptions. A rookie quarterback hasn’t beaten Brady since 2013. 

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quarterback 

Even against a stout Bears defensive line, Brady was rarely pressured. He was harried on just 14% of his dropbacks. When kept clean, he completed just 18-of-31 passes for 194 yards, including the three touchdowns and no interceptions. Importantly, Brady didn’t take any sacks while under pressure, either.

Dropbacks Sacks YPA
Kept Clean 31 0 6.3
Under Pressure 5 0 3.4
Running Back

Each Bucs running back averaged over 5.4 yards per carry with Ronald Jones leading the way at 6.3 a pop on 10 carries. Leonard Fournette gained a first down rushing or scored on a touchdown on 46.7% of 15 carries.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Mike Evans had three touchdowns and made four contested catches out of five opportunities, but Chris Godwin stole the show with eight catches and 111 yards on 11 targets. Six of the eight catches went for first downs, and he finished with 3.26 yards per route run.

Offensive Line

It was a clean day from the Tampa Bay offensive line. Alex Cappa was the only starter not to give up a pressure, but in total the unit only gave up four. Tristan Wirfs, Ryan Jensen, Ali Marpet and Donovan Smith each gave up one pressure, but the line did not give up a sack. In fact, they were only credited as having given up one hit on Brady combined.

Defensive Line

Shaquil Barrett paced the group with four total pressures leading to one sack, while Jason Pierre-Paul totaled two sacks off three pressures. Ndamukong Suh had two pressures.

Linebackers

Standing in for Lavonte David, Kevin Minter was targeted four times in coverage and gave up two catches for a paltry -2 yards. His teammate Devin White allowed all three catches in his coverage for 29 yards.

Secondary

The Bears attacked the Bucs trio of starting cornerbacks but without much success. Jamel Dean, Ross Cockrell and Dee Delaney combined to give up 10 catches on 14 targets but for just 82 yards and only three first downs. Delaney and Pierre Desir each had interceptions as well.

Chicago Bears

Quarterback

Fields was hassled from the opening drive, finding himself under pressure on 13 dropbacks. He was sacked four times and posted just a 35.4 passer rating under pressure. He was much better when kept clean with a 6.1 yard per attempt and an 80.8% adjusted completion rate on 29 scrambles

Justin Fields Passing by Target Depth
Target Depth Completions Attempts Yards TD:INT
Behind LOS 5 5 34 0:0
0-9 Yards 14 18 89 0:1
10-19 Yards 2 5 39 0:0
20+ Yards 1 3 22 0:2
Running Backs

Khalil Herbert was a lone bright spot on the offense, as he forced five missed tackles on his way to 100 yards on 18 carries with 64 of those yards coming after contact. He had three explosive runs.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

It was another disappointing outing from Allen Robinson, who caught just two balls on four targets for 16 yards. His 0.39 yards per route run was the lowest on the team among wide receivers. The highest marks were by tight ends Jesse James and Cole Kmet, who had YPPR numbers of 1.43 and 1.34, respectively. 

Offensive Line

Lachavious Simmons only lasted 15 pass-blocking snaps but left his mark on the game, giving up four pressures and two sacks. Jason Peters was the only other offensive linemen to allow multiple pressures, giving up two.

Defensive Line

Only Khalil Mack and Trevis Gipson had multiple pressures on the day. Each had two. No defensive linemen could get home for a sack. Angelo Blackson did have three defensive stops against the run.

Linebackers

Roquan Smith missed two tackles against the run but did have three stops. He was targeted by Brady often but only gave up 5 total passing yards on four catches. He had a forced incompletion as well.

Secondary

Jaylon Johnson allowed five first downs on his six total catches allowed for 73 yards and two touchdowns against. Duke Shelley allowed 42 yards on four catches.

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