There is no way anyone outside of Tampa or Chicago would have predicted the Bucs and Bears would both be first-place teams when they square off in Week 4.

  • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears are surprising teams to start the NFL season
  • The Buccaneers face Khalil Mack and the Bears in their Week 4 matchup
  • The team has not announced who will start between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jameis Winston

Sure, it’s still plenty early in the schedule. Yet there’s no denying both teams are ahead of schedule.

Although the Buccaneers (2-1) come off a 30-27 home loss to Pittsburgh last Monday night, their offense behind backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has been dynamic. Fitzpatrick started the three games that starter Jameis Winston was suspended and made a strong argument for keeping the job. Fitz leads the NFL with 1,230 yards passing and is second with 11 TD passes. He’s the only player in league history to throw for 400-plus yards in three consecutive games.

Winston certainly has been impressed and promises not to make any waves.

“It’s about the team’s success. I’m not a selfish player, it’s about our team,” Winston said. “We’re out here doing big things, and we’ve got to continue doing that.”

Chicago (2-1) is doing big things on defense. The trade with Oakland for Khalil Mack has made a huge impact in the Windy City, making up for a mediocre offense.

Mack is tied for the league lead with four sacks, with at least one in each game, and leads the NFL with three forced fumbles.

“What he has done is completely elevated everybody else on defense,” coach Matt Nagy said. “When that happens, that’s rare, to have one guy affect a team like that.”

Week 4 began with Jared Goff throwing for 465 yards and five touchdowns and getting a perfect quarterback rating in a 38-31 victory over Minnesota. The Rams are 4-0, while the Vikings are 1-2-1 and haven’t won since opening day.

On byes are Carolina and Washington.