Big Men, Tight Pants? No, its not a metro sexual advise column? it?s the inside dope on the best damn football team in the History of the NFL.

Week 12 Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

By Mike Maguire

Bucs Team Profile

Record (7-3) ? tied for the lead in NFC South.

Points for: Tampa Bay - 206 (20.6 ppg) Bears - 169 (16.9 ppg)

Points against: Tampa Bay - 183 (18.3 ppg) Bears - 110 (11.0 ppg)

Offensive Rank: Tampa Bay - 21 Bears - 28

Defensive Rank: Tampa Bay - 3 Bears - 1

Last meeting: Bears lost 19-7 on October 24th, 2004.

The Skinny:

What the hell is a Buccaneer anyway? a gay pirate with poor taste in color? The Bears are headed into the orange sherbet flavored world of Tampa Bay this week for a showdown with a fellow 7-3 contender in the NFC. While Tampa is a decent football team, they are not as good as their record indicates. They got off to a fast start in 2005 behind the strong running of Cadillac Williams and competent QB work of Brian Griese. With Griese on injured reserve and Cadillac now a bit burdened by some hard earned mileage, the Tampa Bay offense is not as good as it was in the early going of the season. New QB Chris Simms is not the only problem with the Tampa offense, but the team has had trouble scoring points with him at the helm. The Bucs did defeat the Atlanta Falcons last week but managed just 258 yards of offense in doing so.

The Plan:

Williams is still the man for the Bears to stop. He rushed for 116 yards and a TD last week against a good Atlanta D and has to be contained. If the Bears can force Chris Simms to try to beat them through the air, I like the Bears chances of making a couple of game changing plays on the defensive side of the ball. The Tampa Bay defense is still their biggest asset and yards and points may be tough to come by once again. The Bears will probably stick with their semi conservative approach, and if Thomas Jones can rush for 100 yards, they should be sitting pretty.

The Prediction:

Bears Win 17-16

Defense will be the story and the Bears should control this game against a team that has issues on offense. Red zone defense will be a big key to the game in Raymond James Stadium this Sunday, and no one has been better in the red zone this season than the Bears. The offense has to be careful with the ball and pick the right time to take their chances down the field. If the Bears give Tampa Bay points, it could be a long Sunday. It would be nice to see Mush Muhammad in the end zone again, but the Bears will probably stay committed to running the football against the Bucs.

In the end, holding Tampa to field goals and capitalizing on big play chances on defense will be enough to get the Bears a tough win on the road

Happy Thanksgiving and Go Bears!!!

For further info on the team? check out www.chicagobears.com