Bears Vs. Buccaneers: Matt Forte Shines In London, Chicago Wins 24-18

For now, the Bucs will head back home from London after a disheartening 24-18 loss and take some time to regroup during their bye week. We likely won’t get an update on Blount until after the bye.

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Freeman was averaging 244 passing yards a game with 1,459 receiving yards on the season and 5 touchdowns through his first six games of the 2011 NFL season. Freeman’s passing yards per game is up nearly 30 yards per game from last season.

Freeman was ranked by Yahoo! as the 10th ranked quarterback heading into Week 7 taking on the Chicago Bears who rank 6th against the pass.

With the win, the Bears move to 4-3 on the season, while the Bucs fall to 4-3 with the loss.

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Kellen Winslow did not have his best game of the season against the Chicago Bears, but he did do something his fantasy owners had been hoping for: He finally found the endzone. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end caught just four passes for 25 yards, but his four-quarter touchdown catch makes for a reasonably productive afternoon.

For more on Winslow and the Bucs’ matchups with the Bears, check out Bucs blog Bucs Nation and Bears blog Windy City Gridiron. Follow all the action from Week 7 at SB Nation NFL, and get your fantasy questions answered on Twitter by @SBNationFantasy.

For the year, this is just the latest of a string excellent games for Forte: he came into the game averaging 136 yards in his last three.

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UPDATE: Earnest Graham reportedly tore his Achilles’ tendon, according to ProFootballTalk.com.

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The Bears hold the early lead over the Bucs in London, 7-0.

Hester’s ribs prevented from practicing on Wednesday, but he fully participated in Thursday’s practice in Chicago and Friday’s practice in London, so the dynamic return specialist appears on target to play on Sunday against the Buccaneers. Whether or not he’ll get to make an impact in the return game is another story, as Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris has every intention of avoiding Hester on kicks and punts.

“Hopefully, we can directional kick and do some different things,” Morris said via the St. Petersburg Times, “but if we have to kick to him, like last week, we played Sproles who is a dynamic kick returner and we were able to keep the ball away from him and limit his touches, that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Game Date/Time: Sunday, October 23; 1:00pm ET

Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England

This week’s best games carry consequences. For some, the nagging inconsistencies might morph into full-time problems. For other teams, this week gives them an opportunity to confirm their legitimacy as contenders or have their stories written in just another footnote from the early part of the 2011 NFL season. Firings, new quarterbacks, the draft...week 7 will provide fans and the media with so much more to talk about than just the simple mechanics of winning and losing.

As for Tebow himself, the Broncos now have a free pass to tell Tebow devotees “I told you so.” I never really got the impression that the Denver brass sees Tebow as their future, setting up a crash course with a sizeable portion of their fans. What happens if Tebow is solid down the stretch? Trade, keep...the Broncos have options. Either way, they’re starting a new chapter this week; we’re just waiting to see how long this chapter lasts.