The Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have both lost three of their last four games, with the one difference that the Bears have lost their last three and spiraled down to their worst defeat since the loss at Seattle, where at least they had the Jimmy Clausen excuse. Now the matchup of Bears (5-9) and Bucs (6-8) has the vague feel of two teams moving slowly in opposite directions, for the balance of 2015 anyhow. Beyond that… .
The Buccaneers under Lovie Smith are moving toward firming up an offensive core around quarterback Jameis Winston and running back Doug Martin, and a defensive core around defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Lavonte David, both from the 2012 draft and both already both achieving All-Pro status.