Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 Bold predictions for Week 5 vs. Bears

1. Tom Brady will throw for 3 touchdowns but less than 250 yards

Tom Brady just came off his best game in his Tampa Bay career with five touchdowns and 369 yards passing. He will be good again on Thursday night, but the injuries and the game script will limit his output in some ways. With the injuries on offense, look for Brady to be more efficient with the passing attack than what he was asked to do when coming back from a three-possession lead.

Defensively, the Bears’ strength is in the passing game. They are only giving up 230.3 yards per game and they have eight sacks. With Evans’s ability to play in doubt and without Howard and Godwin to also help contribute, it wouldn’t make sense for the team to lean on the passing game unless it has to.

Brady will not throw for a ton of yards, but I expect him and coordinator Byron Leftwich to take advantage of the running game and use play-action passes for a few big plays including touchdowns.

Also, Brady is the team’s most reliable source in the red zone and if the Bears load up to stop the run at that point, Brady can still make plays to the weapons he will have including old reliable Rob Gronkowski.