Chicago Bears: 3 Buccaneers the Bears must shut down

Wide Receiver DeSean Jackson

Going into Week 4, the Bucs’ wide receiving core is among the NFL’s elite. Taking the Thursday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams out of the picture, both Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson were no. 2 and no. 7 in the league in receiving yards.

Here’s the deal: Evans is going to get his share of receptions. He is certainly capable of the big play, no doubt. But, it’s Jackson who will hurt the Bears the most if they let him. Jackson has 12 receptions in three games, but has averaged a whopping 26.0 yards per catch.

Real quick: Even the Bucs’ third wideout Chris Godwin has been spectacular. Just look at where these three stack up according to our friends at Pro Football Focus.

Back to Jackson.

Without Prince Amukamara, it will be Kevin Toliver who gets to shadow these guys next to Kyle Fuller. The undrafted rookie is in for quite the fight, no matter who he’s matched up against.

Jackson has the speed to blow past anyone in the Bears’ secondary. The way they shut down Jackson is by getting to the quarterback early and often, disallowing Jackson to get down the field. Jackson is primarily a one-trick pony, being one of the best deep threats in all of football for quite some time.

But, limiting Fitzpatrick’s time to throw is going to be key in lessening the chances of Jackson beating this secondary on Sunday.