NFL Week 7 Picks: Buccaneers Will Treat England to Ugly Win over Bears

Believe it or not, a movement has started to one day develop a UK-based NFL team.

I kid you not.

According to NFLUK.com, American football has received official recognition in British government via the launch of an All-Party Parliamentary Group for the sport.

The APPG will work closely with the British American Football Association (BAFA) and the NFL, hoping to drum up enough interest in the sport to the point where a team can be sustained in the UK.

Well, why not? But until that day comes, the English crowd will have to be content with the one live NFL game they get to witness each year.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears are doing the honors in 2011, and they will square off at Wembley Stadium this coming Sunday.

One could think of a better matchup to subject the Brits to.

The Bucs and Bears are both decent enough, but neither of them qualifies as one of the league's elite teams, who must be exempt from goodwill missions across the pond.

Even the spread for the Bucs vs. Bears leaves a lot to be desired, as the folks at Bodog have the Bears favored by a single point.

If that's the case then, hey, at least the crowd packed into Wembley Stadium will get to see themselves an upset. It's going to be a close, hard-fought and ultimately quite ugly affair—but this is a game that I see the Bucs taking.

This has a lot to do with the fact that I have almost zero confidence in the Bears’ ability to do anything well. They've been able to beat up on teams like the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings in recent weeks, but good teams like the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions have exposed the Bears for what they truly are: a mediocre football team.

No doubt some will argue that the Bucs are also a mediocre football team, but I think they are on the better side of mediocre. They are probably the least flashy team in the league, but they get the job done with a balanced offense, and a defense that bends but doesn't break.

The key for the Bucs defensively is one that you can probably guess. They must put pressure on Jay Cutler, who has played pretty well in two straight games. This has a lot to do with better play from the offensive line.

It's still a weak unit, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was in Chicago's first two games. When it gives Cutler time, he can be pretty good.

Limiting Cutler will be paramount because the Bucs likely won't be successful in limiting Matt Forte. He's going to be productive against just about any defense, and the Bucs have had issues with running backs this season.

Lucky for the Bucs, they shouldn't have too much trouble scoring points of their own against the Bears' defense, which isn't very good.

Josh Freeman should be able to take advantage of a defense that is allowing opposing passers to complete better than 67 percent of their throws. 

Don't sleep on veteran running back Earnest Graham either, he gained over 100 yards against a soft Saints defense in Week 6, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if he did the same against a soft Bears defense.

Because we're talking about two teams that can be wildly unpredictable, I don't expect domination on either side. In the end, though, I think the Bucs will prove to be the better team.

Buccaneers 21, Bears 17