This past Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears for the team’s first home win of the season, with a score of 36-10.

There was one major difference in the Buccaneer defensive play calling by Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith that made the Buccaneer defense wreck havoc more than they have done in the past this season: the increase of Linebacker blitzing.

The first example of the Linebacker blitz helping the Buccaneers occurred on what was one of the crucial moments of the game (sorry, but the Johnny Manziel-like play by Quarterback Jameis Winston was the best play of the day in my opinion), which was the interception returned for a touchdown by Safety Chris Conte.

This play began with Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler rolling out of the pocket for a play-action. Then, Bucs Linebacker Daryl Smith blitzed Cutler, leading to an erratic throw by the Bears QB that then led to the pick.

This play is one of the many examples that occurred during this game that proves how utilizing more Linebacker blitz will help the team.

The next example of this was when rookie Defensive End Noah Spence landed a sack and strip fumble on Cutler.

The play began with a blitz by Middle Linebacker Kwon Alexander. Once Cutler sensed pressure, he again rolled out of the pocket. As he was doing so, Spence came up from behind him and caused the sack and fumble. This play again proves how Linebacker blitzes will make a greatly positive impact on the team.

With these two plays in mind, it is clear that Linebacker blitzing will help the team tremendously. One aspect to consider for the Buccaneers moving forward is the offensive line play of the opposing team.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Bears Offensive line ranks eighteenth out of the 32 teams in the NFL heading into Week 11. The next three teams the Buccaneers face are the Chiefs with the seventeenth ranked offensive line, followed up with the Seahawks (twenty-ninth) and Chargers (thirty-second). With the next set of games for the Buccaneers coming against teams with struggling offensive line play, the blitzing of Linebackers may very well lead to some turnovers by the opposing team due to erratic decisions by the Quarterback while under pressure.