5 things to watch for when the Bears face the Buccaneers

The Chicago Bears need to be better in the trenches in Week 2 of this season.

4. The offensive line handling the Buccaneers blitzing

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles likes to bring pressure through blitzing. He must be salivating knowing he will be bringing the heat with a Chicago Bears offensive line that looked woeful.

He will have monster defensive tackle Vita Vea being matched up with an overmatched Lucas Patrick, an out-of-shape Nate Davis, and a possibly washed-up Cody Whitehair.

The Buccaneers also like to blitz inside linebacker Devin White.

Patrick, Davis, and Whitehair must protect to limit how much interior pressure Fields feels. It will be a challenge with Vea who is nearly impossible to block. They have to find a way.

Left tackle Braxton Jones committed some costly penalties last week and right tackle Darnell Wright had his share of rookie mistakes.

All that needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible.

5. The defense getting Mayfield to throw them the ball

Mayfield had a solid game last week in Tampa’s victory over the Vikings. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 173 yards and two touchdown passes. Even more impressive was he did not throw an interception.

Mayfield has thrown 64 picks during his five-year career. Baker will give opposing defenses a chance to catch the ball.

The Bears’ defense needs to find a way to pressure Mayfield to force him into making some bad decisions. Chicago’s pass rush barely threatened Jordan Love last Sunday. That needs to change in Tampa.

The defense might need to blitz more. Eberflus is not a fan of blitzing, but something has to be done to create some turnover opportunities. At the very least, the Bears’ defense has to find a way to get off the field on third down.

If they can get Mayfield to make some mistakes, it will help the Chicago Bears in their quest to end this regular season losing streak.