Bears vs. Buccaneers schedule, online streaming, TV channel, odds, announcers and more

The Bucs finally start their season today.

By Sander Philipse Sep 17, 2017, 9:30am EDT

NFL: Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will finally play their first game of the 2017 season. After last week’s game was pushed to November due to hurricane Irma, the Bucs will host the Chicago Bears at 1:00 p.m. ET today.

The Tampa Bay area was thankfully spared the brunt of hurricane Irma’s effects, though there was still significant damage. Not enough to prevent the Bucs from playing at their own stadium and giving fans some positive new, hopefully.

The Bears started their season with a close loss against the Atlanta Falcons, though they came tantalizingly close to getting a win—they dropped two potential touchdowns in the endzone in the final minute. That was pretty impressive, especially given the fact that Mike Glennon is their starting quarterback.

Speaking of Glennon, he gets to face his old coaches and show them that they were entirely right in not wanting to pay him $14 million. Meanwhile, on the other side, Jameis Winston will get the opportunity to roll out his improved accuracy (judging by his preseason performance) against a vulnerable Bears defense. Watch for DeSean Jackson and O.J. Howard, Winston’s newest toys that should add some extra explosiveness to what was a relatively sluggish offense.

The Bucs do have two issues: Doug Martin’s suspended for the team’s first three games, which means Jacquizz Rodgers needs to carry the ground game. And the defense is a bit of a question mark, particularly its pass rush—can Noah Spence and Jacquies Smith provide enough of an edge rush to get this defense going?

We’ll see this afternoon, as Bucs football is finally back!