Nick Bosa, 49ers defense knew they had to make Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston ‘feel suffocated’

Nick Bosa walked away from his first NFL game with his first NFL sack. But really, it was a complete effort by the San Francisco 49ers defense that helped the team earn the opening-day road victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"It felt great," Bosa said of getting his first NFL sack. "It was kind of a moment where we had to focus up, so I was like, 'Okay, no celebration. Let's just go.' It was second down (after the sack), so we had another big play right after. It was kind of anticlimactic, but it was still nice to get."

San Francisco went on to beat Tampa Bay 31-17 and limit Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston to 194 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.

What was the 49ers' plan to stop Winston? Bosa explained what the defense was trying to accomplish against the fifth-year signal-caller.

"We knew he has a history of turnovers so we just tried to get in his face, hands in his face, whatever we could do," Bosa said. "Just close the pocket on him, make him feel suffocated, and it turned out — what was it? Four turnovers? Two picks? Three picks?"

The 49ers indeed had three interceptions against the Buccaneers. You read that right. Three. The San Francisco defense managed just two during all of last season. Bosa wasn't with the 49ers to witness that NFL-record low total, but he's certainly heard about it. He acknowledged that seeing the team walk away with an interception, much less multiple picks, is not normal for this defense.

"I'm just glad to be a part of a winning effort, and I'm glad our defense is trending in the right way," Bosa continued.

Bosa entered the game coming off of an ankle injury that kept him out of the entire preseason. He seemed to slow a bit against the Buccaneers, which can be attributed to him not being quite 100 percent yet.

"Just getting my ankle back," Bosa said. "An ankle sprain is something you kind of have to work through a little bit of pain in the beginning, but I'm pretty happy that I got through the whole game, and I started to pick it up at the end."

Next up is another road game — this time against the Cincinnati Bengals. Kick-off will be at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on September 15.