Bears at Buccaneers
THE STORY: Amid talk of discord in the locker room and a rift between players and management, the Chicago Bears embark on their longest road trip of the season when they travel overseas to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at London's Wembley Stadium. Both teams head across the Atlantic coming off impressive home victories. The Buccaneers pulled into a tie atop the NFC South with New Orleans by beating the Saints 26-20 last weekend, while the Bears demolished the Minnesota Vikings 39-10 to climb back to the .500 mark. Earlier in the week, Bears linebacker Lance Briggs told a Chicago television that players and management are not "seeing eye-to-eye” on a number of issues, but he backtracked from those comments Thursday.
TV: FOX, 1 p.m. ET. LINE: Bears -1, O/U 43.5
ABOUT THE BEARS (3-3): Jay Cutler threw for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the laugher over Minnesota. One of the scoring passes went to Devin Hester, who also returned a kickoff 98 yards to break the game open. RB Matt Forte leads the NFL with 908 yards from scrimmage. He’s the only player in the league with at least 500 yards rushing and 350 yards receiving. Despite being listed as doubtful last week, DE Julius Peppers had a pair of sacks to give him 93 for his career. He has registered 15.5 sacks in 15 games against the Buccaneers.
ABOUT THE BUCCANEERS (4-2): Tampa Bay picked off Saints QB Drew Brees three times last week in bouncing back from a 45-point beating at San Francisco. QB Josh Freeman threw for a season-high 303 yards and a pair of touchdowns and backup RB Earnest Graham rushed for 109 yards in place of injured starter LeGarrette Blount (knee). Graham could be in line for another start Sunday after Blount sat out practice Thursday. TE Kellen Winslow caught five passes for the third straight game to run his streak with at least one reception to 82 games.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Cutler has gone back-to-back games without an interception, only the second time that’s happened in his two-plus seasons in Chicago.
2. Freeman made his NFL debut at Wembley Stadium in 2009, coming in relief in a 35-7 loss to the New England Patriots. The Bears played Dallas in an exhibition game at Wembley in 1986 following their Super Bowl season.
3. Chicago K Robbie Gould can become the most accurate kicker in league history if he converts his next two field-goal attempts. Gould is a perfect 13-for-13 this season.