Buccaneers head coach believes it'll take a team effort to contain Justin Fields
The Chicago Bears are looking to flip the script from last week's loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Leading up to the game, Buccaneers head coach and defensive mastermind Todd Bowles detailed the challenge he faces with stopping the rushing ability of Bears quarterback Justin Fields. "He's tough, as fast as he is, he's faster […]
The Chicago Bears are looking to flip the script from last week's loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Leading up to the game, Buccaneers head coach and defensive mastermind Todd Bowles detailed the challenge he faces with stopping the rushing ability of Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
"He's tough, as fast as he is, he's faster than all our guys," Bowles said while speaking to reporters following Friday's practice. "We gotta rally to the ball and try to hustle."
Fields led the Bears with 59 rushing yards on nine carries against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. His 6.56 yards per rush was the 11th highest he's averaged in his young career, according to Pro Football Reference. The last time Fields faced the Buccaneers, however, he was only held to 38 yards on the ground.
The praise shared by the Buccaneers head coach was consistent to what he said earlier in the week when asked how he plans to contain the young quarterback yet again. The answer, as other teams across the league have learned, isn't so simple.
"[Fields is] probably faster than everybody we have in the front seven so you know it's going to be a team effort," Bowles said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. "We're going to have to rally to him and they have other guys he can get the ball to. You say you want to keep him in a pocket and contain him, but if your [defensive line] runs a 4.9 [40-yard dash] and he run a 4.4, there's going to be be a problem at some point. So, we just got to make sure we have enough eyes on him that we can go get him."
In order to contain Fields in the pocket while keeping an extra pair of eyes on him in case he escapes, the Buccaneers won't be able to rely on the blitz-heavy strategy they usually like to implement.
This puts a major load on the shoulders of Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. who will be the man tasked with limiting Fields' mobility on Sunday. Winfield's play recognition at the position is one of the best in the NFL, and it's a big reason why he has the most sacks by a safety in Buccaneers history.
The 25-year-old added another sack under his belt last week against the Minnesota Vikings. The play was a major one for the Buccaneers that resulted in a turnover after Winfield knocked the ball out of quarterback Kirk Cousins' hands.
Winfield believes he set the bar high for himself in Week 1, but he's hungry to keep up the pace against Fields and the rest of the Bears offense this weekend.
"We gotta contain him as much as possible," Winfield said after practice on Wednesday. "He's a dual-threat quarterback and we have to contain him on the scramble and also have to cover on the backend."
The Bears will be faced with a tough matchup all around offensively as they look to improve by any means necessary after a brutal loss to open the season.
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Featured image via: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
