Where Bears Improved and Regressed

Analysis: A full offseason of player personnel moves, practices and training camp have brought the Bears to this point and here is what to expect of the roster in terms of improvement over last year, or regression

The Chicago Bears team assembled to face the Los Angeles Rams only slightly resembles the team the Rams faced Oct. 26 during a 24-10 L.A. home-field victory.

So much has changed and it's evident in the starting Bears lineup from that day. The turnover to this year's team has been large.

On that day against the Rams, the Bears started an entirely different offensive line than they have this year for better or worse. They had Charles Leno at left tackle and not Jason Peters. They had Rashad Coward starting at left guard rather than Cody Whitehair. Sam Mustipher wasn't yet in the lineup so Whitehair was still at center. Germain Ifedi was in the lineup but not at right tackle. He was at right guard. Bobby Massie was the right tackle rather than Ifedi.

The most obvious offensive difference was Nick Foles starting at quarterback and not Andy Dalton. The Bears on that day lined up determined to run the ball with three tight ends and one was Demetrius Harris, who has been replaced by Jesse James.

The defense was different, as well. Instead of Eddie Goldman on the nose, they had Bilal Nichols playing a position he really hadn't played a great deal until last season. Roy Robertson Harris started where Nichols will start this year, at right end. In the secondary it was Buster Skrine being picked on at slot cornerback, where Duke Shelley is now and can expect the same treatment. Kyle Fuller was the left cornerback instead of Kindle Vildor.

Changes like this are common in the NFL each season, for better or worse.

Here's where the Bears are better this year than they were in 2020 and where they figure to be worse.

Bears Areas of Improvement

Run Defense

The front seven that dominated against the run in 2018 isn't entirely restored while Danny Trevathan is sitting out the first three weeks, but Alec Ogletree or Christian Jones are suitable replacements. This version of Roquan Smith is far much more effective than the rookie version, more disciplined and explosive.

There's no sense comparing this group against the run to last year's because Goldman and Akiem Hicks on the field together now make the Bears far more formidable and Goldman was gone last year. Bilal Nichols came into his own during the last half of last season. In this matchup, the team running for more yardage has won three straight times. The Rams outrushed the Bears 110-74 in a 2019 win and 160-49 last year. In 2018 when the Bears won, they outrushed the Rams 194-52.

Downfield Passing Game

Although they haven't shown it much in preseason, they worked at this constantly in training camp and offseason.

Bringing in two speed receivers with Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd could help greatly. Darnell Mooney and Allen Robinson could always get there anyway.

The Bears would also like to say Andy Dalton is a big improvement over Mitchell Trubisky in terms of getting the ball downfield to those receivers but the last four years do not suggest this to a large extent. Dalton's average yards per attempt the last four years was 6.7. Only once did he hit 7.0. Trubisky's career spans those four years and his yards/attempt was 6.7 as well, with one season at 7.4 but no others reaching 7.0. Trubisky was actually less interception-prone than Dalton at a rate of 2.3% to 2.6%.

If only the Bears could restore the Dalton of of 2011-2016, when he hit on 7.3 yards per attempt. If only we all could dial back the clock five years.

Interior Run Blocking

Blocking the run against the Rams will not be easy because of Aaron Donald's presence. It won't be easy because the Bears have had this line together for one half of preseason football and about three weeks of practices. Eventually, it should be better because even at 39 years old Peters is a more physical run blocker than Charles Leno Jr. in his best year, and James Daniels is supposed to be one of their most effective blockers, period. Daniels wasn't available for two-thirds of last season.

Depth

They can suffer a blow or two and keep playing now at most positions after Ryan Pace fortified linebacker and running back. There are still razor thin areas, like cornerback or left tackle. But these are more problems with overall quality than the lack of depth.

Team Speed

Having the faster wide receivers makes it possible to run the jet sweep game Nagy loves. They also have a few other tricks they haven't unveiled in preseason games that have been evident in practices. Then, too, there is the one player who could surprise any opponent coming off the bench for a play or two or a series and he has 4.4-second speed in the 40 to go with a strong arm. This would be Justin Fields. Even running back David Montgomery says he's faster after taking speed classes. Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert both add speed out of the backfield.

The defensive speed is unchanged to possibly slightly better with a more confident Jaylon Johnson playing faster in his second year at right cornerback.

Where the Bears Took a Step Back

Pass Coverage

When you replace a two-time Pro Bowl player, an All-Pro, with a second-year cornerback who was a fifth-round draft pick from a small school then you can expect the coverage level to drop. Kindle Vildor is no Kyle Fuller. Duke Shelley at slot cornerback probably can't play yet at the level Buster Skrine did last year, although Skrine wasn't exactly in the running for postseason honors.

Special Teams

They still have Cairo Santos and Pat O'Donnell, which allows them to maintain a solid base. Losing two returners like Cordarrelle Patterson and Tarik Cohen sets them back. Punt coverage looked atrocious in preseason while coordinator Chris Tabor searched for gunners to replace Patterson and Sherrick McManis. Still, the core coverage players return. DeAndre Houston-Carson and Joel Iyiegbuniwe are key assets here, and they've added some others who will help such as Jones. It shouldn't be a steep drop provided they have returner players who simply hold onto the football. The importance of returns is greatly diminshed in the NFL now with the rule changes

Pass Rush

It's only a tiny step back. They should have been good last year and weren't. The only way it gets better is with better use of personnel and if players like Robert Quinn find it from within to get to the passer. Khalil Mack can only do so much. The Bears have found his limitations over the past two seasons while opponents ganged up on him and beat him up. Scheming by Sean Desai will need to be big here. For two weeks, they'll be short-handed, as three-technique defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr. serves a suspension. He lets the hybrid defensive look work better.

The other problem is Mack and Quinn are a year older and people don't tend to get faster with age.

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