Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Bears’ Defensive Line Is The Driving Force For The Defensive Struggles As A Whole

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The Chicago Bears have had back-to-back heartbreaking losses at Soldier Field over the last two weeks, despite the heroic play of quarterback Justin Fields. Chicago has lost their last two games by a combined four points, although their offense has scored 30 points in each game. The Bears’ defense has struggled significantly since their Week 7 win over the New England Patriots, as a lackluster level of production from the defensive line has affected the whole defensive unit.

Bears’ Defensive Line Performance Is Vital Given The Team’s Defensive Scheme

First-year head coach Matt Eberflus has implemented a Cover-2 defensive scheme for the Bears’ defense, with one of the main features relying on pass rush pressure from the defensive line. A Cover-2 philosophy relies on the front four of the defense to close in on the opposing quarterback, which enables the linebackers and defensive backs to drop back into coverage to defend against the pass. The linebackers will cover tight end and running backs over the middle and in the flat, while cornerbacks and safeties will look to double-cover opposing wide receivers.

With pressure from the defensive line and tight coverage from the other seven defenders, the defensive scheme will lead to more interceptions, especially some created off tipped passes. The issue with the Bears’ defense is that their defensive line has little to no pressure to assist in pass coverage. No Chicago defensive tackle or defensive end has recorded a sack in the team’s last four games. Additionally, only defensive tackle Justin Jones, and defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, have recorded sacks in the Bears’ last seven games.

The lack of pressure is creating game-plan issues for Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams, as the coaching staff must find a way to generate pressure from other positions on the defense. The non-existent defensive line pass rush is why the Bears’ defense has been relying on blitzes from their linebackers and defensive backs. Safety Jaquan Brisker leads Chicago with three sacks, all coming on safety blitzes.

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Against the Lions, linebacker Jack Sanborn’s two sacks were the most sacks the Bears have had in total over their last five games. Since the victory over New England, Chicago’s pass defense has allowed over 236 passing yards or more to opposing quarterbacks, including a 300-yard passing game to the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa. The Bears’ starting cornerbacks and safeties have struggled to contain opposing offenses, as quarterbacks have significant amounts of time to find an open targets without being pressured by the defensive line.

In the loss to Detroit, the Lions were without several wide receivers due to injury, but Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond combined for 13 receptions and over 166 yards. The previous week against Miami, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for 12 catches, 228 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. Cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson are getting beat as the defensive line is not applying pressure to force opposing quarterbacks into hurried attempts.

Several Experienced Defensive Linemen Have Failed To Live Up To Their Ability

Chicago’s defensive line got off to a great start to begin the 2022 season as they generated 5.5 sacks in their first three games. Defensive end Dominique Robinson and Trevis Gibson each had multi-sack games in the first two weeks of the season. Former Bear Robert Quinn was supposed to lead the defense in sacks as he did in 2021 with a franchise-record 18.5, but only recorded one through seven games before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. Even with Quinn, Chicago only had two quarterback take-downs from their defensive line from Week 3 through 6.

Although the trade with Philadelphia removed a reliable pass-rushing presence from the Bears’ defense, the unit still has several veteran defensive linemen that have generated pressure on opposing quarterbacks before but haven’t this year. Last season with the Colts, Muhammad recorded six sacks and has recorded two or more sacks in the previous three seasons. The former Colts’ defensive end has been unreliable this season, as Robinson and Gibson have received more playing time as the weeks have progressed.

Before the start of this season, Bears’ general manager Ryan Poles picked up defensive tackle Armon Watts, who started nine games with the Minnesota Vikings in 2021. Watts recorded five sacks last season and was expected to build on that production with the Bears but has none this season yet. Fellow defensive tackle Justin Jones has been a reliable player, as he has two quarterback takedowns, but has a more significant role in rush defensive as the three-technique tackle.

The Bears’ defense will not improve without pass rush pressure being created by their defensive line, as their defensive scheme’s success relies on the front four collapsing the quarterback pocket. The large pass plays opposing offenses have been generating against Chicago’s defense will continue with Eberflus and Williams having to blitz with other defensive players, leaving the defensive backs to cover for extended periods. The Bears’ most significant offseason need will be to improve their defensive line, but their current group needs to improve for the sake of their jobs.

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Ralph Law
Ralph Law
Nov 16, 2022 11:03 am

The Bears coaching staff has been aware of the lack of pass rush since traing camp. Quinn added pressure. Poles has Eberflus under his thumb so they appear in lock step on their plans to tear down and re-build. Heaven help them if they do not getvmost of it right given the picks and cap space….meaning Chicago fans won’t tolerate four years of bad football even with Justin setting records.

FNagy
FNagy
Nov 16, 2022 10:54 am

Yup, there is certainly no Tommie Harris type players floating around on the waiver wire LMFAO

Aeronaut
Aeronaut
Nov 16, 2022 10:08 am

The author, and commenter Randy, have it exactly right. A stud 3 tech DT will shore up the run defense and generate pressure on the QB. Jalen Carter would be my first choice, and if Poles traded up a few spots to get him, I think it would be a great investment. Bryan Bresee is also quite good, and may fall to us, assuming we are picking around 10th in the first round (if the 1 point losses keep piling up, we may be much higher than that). At pretty much every other position of need, you can find stud… Read more »

Randy
Randy
Nov 16, 2022 9:43 am

All of which points to signing or drafting a disruptive 3 technique as the Bears absolute top priority in the off season. According to Flus, the 3 tech drives the whole defense; it would make the line better, help the linebackers and force quicker throws helping the DBs. Adding a stud LT, RT, Center or #1 receiver would certainly help the offense (and I hope they can eventually do all those things) but any one of those would not make as big a difference to the O as a stud 3 tech would to the D.

repnice
repnice
Nov 16, 2022 7:58 am

Well written Mr. Pusch. Very refreshing.

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