A weekly series where I will give our readers a possible game plan the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will implement on Sundays. Taking into account the teams strengths, weaknesses, injuries and trends. The Chicago Bears come to town week one.
Quick story. Week five Monday Night Football vs the Carolina Panthers. Bucs receive the opening kickoff an proceed to hand the ball off to Jacquizz Rodgers on 10 of the first 12 plays. Why? Game planning. The Buccaneers defensive line was, as they say, decimated by injuries. Gerald McCoy, Robert Ayres and Clinton McDonald were all not playing. So what does that have to do with Jameis Winston turning around and giving the ball to Rodgers time after time?
Head coach Dirk Koetter knew that his patchwork defensive line wouldn’t stand up for 4 quarters against the Panthers offense with players like John Hughes, Channing Ward and DaVonte Lambert logging significant minutes. When Roberto Aguayo kicked the game winning field goal as time ran out, Koetter’s plan had worked. The Buccaneers escaped with a road win and in no small part to having a possession advantage of more than 8 minutes. Watching that game play out I realized that Dirk Koetter was a top notch coach. Not only did he recognize his teams shortcomings, but he game planned for what he didn’t have on defense. Not just what his team could do on offense.
Attacking The Bears
Chicago’s defense fared better last week against the Falcons than most would of predicted. Continually double teaming all everything receiver Julio Jones, the Bears D effectively removed his impact from the game. The Bears run defense was impressive as well, holding Atlanta to just 64 yards, but they did lose their best linebacker to IR and that is where the Bucs offense should focus their attack.
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ILB Nick Kwiatkoski will be filling in for injured Jerrell Freeman and it is a definite downgrade. Kwiatkoski is the Bears version of the Bucs own Riley Bullough. A very good downhill type linebacker that is an excellent run stopper but is a liability in pass coverage. With the Bears secondary having their hands full with Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson that should leave Kwiatkoski all alone with Cameron Brate or O.J. Howard.
Look for Jameis Winston to go to his tight ends again and again down the seam or in the middle of the field when he needs to move the sticks.
Also look for Charles Sims to get the ball outside the tackle box. Out in space where he doesn’t have to deal with the very good interior lineman of the Bears.
Defending The Bears
Chicago has already lost their top two receiving targets from a corps that wasn’t very impressive to begin with. Add in that their quarterback Mike Glennon doesn’t frequently try to push the ball down the field, the Bears should rely heavily on their running game.
Jordan Howard was the second leading rusher in the NFL in 2016 and he did rush for 100 yards on just 15 carries when he faced the Bucs last season. Rookie running back Tarik Cohen is the new darling of Chicago after his 158 total yard game in week one that included a touchdown.
The Bucs made a concerted to get bigger up the middle during the off season. The free agent signing and resigning of 320 pound defensive tackles Chris Baker and Sealver Siliga respectively, will be key in stopping Howard. The interior offensive line of the Bears is a little dinged up and I believe the the Buccaneer defense will be up to the task.
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Tarik Cohen did most of his damage catching the ball more than running it. The speed of the Bucs linebackers Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander should be enough to keep Cohen from executing any explosive plays through the air. Which brings us to Mike Glennon.
Coach Dirk Koetter has said many times that if you can get pressure with your front 4, you are ahead of the game. I say why chance it. The Bears wide receivers aren’t scaring any defense and neither is Glennon’s ability to push the ball down the field. If Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith is comfortable leaving his corner backs one on one, which I think he is, it is going to be a long day for Chicago’s offense.
I would bring 5 defenders every time the Bears snapped the ball. Could the Bucs get pressure with just 4? Maybe? But your odds improve with 5. If grimes and Hargreaves can lock down the Bears wide outs, freeing up our speedy linebackers to get after Glennon every play, we could see another total game domination by Smith’s defense.
Well there you have it. I’m predicting 12 targets to the Bucs tight ends and some creative play designs on 3rd down to get Charles Sims in space, away from Chicago’s front seven.
On defense, bring the blitz and bring it often. The Bears don’t have the play makers on the outside to make the Bucs pay for their aggressiveness.
Thanks for reading and please fire off any comments you have in the section provided below. You can find me on Twitter @Ren_Daxt, I’m always down to talk Buccaneers football. The Bears put up a fight in week one, but with further injuries in key positions, Chicago just doesn’t have the horses to keep up with the Bucs for 4 quarters. This shouldn’t be close.