Bears Have One Advantage Buccaneers Haven't Faced in Recent Weeks

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to face a very difficult challenge on Sunday night when they play the Chicago Bears. The Bears are one of the best teams in football, and their offense is piloted by a deadly tandem of head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams.

Their defense is a force to be reckoned with too, though, and that's especially true after a blockbuster trade involving one of the NFL's elite defensive players. The Buccaneers have played some tough defenses this season so far, but they haven't faced a dimension like this since the first game of the year.

Here's why the Bears' defensive line will be a big problem for the Bucs on Sunday night:

Bears Have Elite Interior Defensive Tackle

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (99) on the field prior to a game against the Seattle Seahawks | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Bears acquired defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons in a blockbuster trade from the Tennessee Titans that included two first-round picks in Week 6. Simmons, a First Team All-Pro last season and one of the NFL's best interior defensive linemen, is a force to be reckoned with — and the Bucs haven't played an interior defender like him in a while.

Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson spoke at length about the challenges Simmons will bring to the team and explained that he'll likely be even better against the Bucs than he was against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8.

"Yeah, he's one of the better just players in the league, regardless – offense, defense," Robinson said. "He's disruptive [in the] run game, pass game. When you see him in person, the physical presence alone, you see it. Obviously, there's really nothing he can't do to disrupt the game. So, you've got to account for him at all times.

"I know now he had the first week there, just kind of getting his feet wet with the system and getting around his players that he's playing around. So, I'm sure they've [had] another week to kind of
install some new things and kind of sprinkle him in in some different ways that didn't present themselves last week."

The last time the Bucs faced a dominant, game-wrecking defensive tackle was in Week 1. The Bucs played the Bengals, who traded their first-round pick for Dexter Lawrence in the offseason, and Lawrence made his presence known — he had three pressures, two hurries and one quarterback hit, per SumerSports, and the Bengals had a 40.9% pressure rate with Lawrence on the field against a 28.6% pressure rate with him off of it.

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (99) warms up prior to a game against the Seattle Seahawks | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Quarterback Baker Mayfield knows a game-wrecker when he sees one. And he made it very clear on Wednesday that the Bucs will have to keep tabs on Simmons the whole game.

"Obviously, he's a game wrecker. No matter what team he's on, even when he was in Tennessee, all eyes are [on him], you're figuring out where he is," Mayfield said. "We [have to] change some protection things and make sure you know where he's at at all times and take care of that."

Running the football up the middle will be exceedingly difficult with an elite defensive tackle like Simmons in the mix. Additionally, guards Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch will have their work cut out for them — Seattle Seahawks right guard Grey Zabel was tasked with guarding Simmons in Week 8, and it didn't go to plan.

The Buccaneers face the Bears at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday night. They can win the game if they keep tabs on Simmons, but he presents a unique challenge this team hasn't faced in some time.

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