Blog

With just one game to go before the NFL IS teams pack up and head East to London, let’s take a look at how they’re doing by the numbers.

Chicago Bears

Record: 2-3, 3rd NFC North
Scored: 107
Allowed: 122

Previous Games
Won v Atlanta Falcons 30-12
Lost @ New Orleans Saints 13-30
Lost v Green Bay Packers 17-27
Won v Carolina Panthers 34-29
Lost @ Detroit Lions 24-13

Upcoming Games
v Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Record: 3-2, 2nd NFC South
Scored: 87
Allowed: 125

Previous Games
Lost v Detroit Lions 20-27
Won @ Minnesota Vikings 24-20
Won v Atlanta Falcons 16-13
Won v Indianapolis Colts 24-17
Lost @ San Francisco 48-3

Upcoming Games
v New Orleans Saints

The Bucs gave up loads to the 49ers in a game that they looked just terrible in. The Bears, for the most part, kept it close against the Lions.

Record v common opponents
There are now two common opponents, the Falcons (who both teams beat) and the Lions (who they both lost to). After week 6, there will be 4 games against shared opponents and we await with interest this week’s games.

(Team, Record, PF, PA)
Bears 1-1-0, 43, 36
Bucs  1-1-0, 36, 40

So far neither team has beaten a team with a winning record.

This week the Bears take on the Vikings, a team who have just recorded their first win but who remain dangerous at times. After watching Kevin Smith rack the yards up against the Bears, I’m sure Adrian Peterson is rubbing his hands in anticipation.

The Bucs go up against the Saints who are always dangerous and who are looking like a good bet for the NFC South.

The London game looks like it should be a close one (though for the wrong reasons!) but it’s a game we’re still looking forward to. At this stage I say: Bears to win by 4-7 points.

With just two games to go before this year’s NFL International Series, let’s take a purely statistical look at the two teams who’ll be playing at Wembley Stadium later this month.

Chicago Bears

Record: 2-2, 3rd NFC North
Scored: 94
Allowed: 98

Previous Games
Won v Atlanta Falcons 30-12
Lost @ New Orleans Saints 13-30
Lost v Green Bay Packers 17-27
Won v Carolina Panthers 34-29

Upcoming Games
@ Detroit Lions
v Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Record: 3-1, 1st NFC South
Scored: 84
Allowed: 77

Previous Games
Lost v Detroit Lions 20-27
Won @ Minnesota Vikings 24-20
Won v Atlanta Falcons 16-13
Won v Indianapolis Colts 24-17

Upcoming Games
@ San Francisco 49ers
v New Orleans Saints

The Bears have both scored and allowed more, but have had a tougher schedule so far. The Bucs have been in closer, lower-scoring games: All 4 games being decided by 7 points or less.

Record v common opponents
At the moment, there is just 1 common opponent (the Atlanta Falcons) who both teams beat.
(Team, Record, PF, PA)
Bears 1-0-0, 30, 12
Bucs  1-0-0, 16, 13

After week 5 there will be 2 games as the Bears take on the Lions in what should be a tough divisional matchup. After week 6, as the teams are preparing to travel to the UK, there will be 4 games (Vikings and Saints) giving us by far the clearest indicator of all the NFL IS games so far or what to expect.

But with a quarter of the season gone, one thing that we can say for sure is that neither team has recorded a win against a team with a winning record. In fact, all three losses are against winning teams which isn’t a great sign for the quality of these teams but the season is still young.

Prediction
As I mentioned above, the picture will get clearer as we get closer to the big kick off in West London. So far this season I’ve given the edge to the Bears but we cannot ignore the Buccaneers who have been competetive against all their opposition so far.

But right now, I’m still favouring the Bears by a narrow (3-7 point) margin.