Good News: Bears Have Edge on Two Teams

At least two teams on the Bears schedule for this year have been judged to be in a worse situation in a couple different ways.

Being last at something means you're going to be bad.

Ah, but being next to last at something at least means you're better than one other poor guy.

The Bears have that distinction in a couple more offseason ratings lists put out in the last few days. One is by NFL.com and the other Pro Football Focus.

The Bears were ranked by PFF on the offensive line last week, but it seems they'll be just as bad along the defensive line, according to the analytics experts at the website. They have ranked the Bears defensive line next to last, 31st in the NFL.

This might seem startling to those who counted for years on the rock provided by one of the game's better defensive fronts, and if so they only casually watched what happened to the team in the offseason.

The old defensive line no longer exists.

The 4-3 front the Bears have gone to is a mix of underperformers from elsewhere, inexperienced or unproven players from last year's Bears roster and offseason no-shows.

Angelo Blackson has been lining up at nose tackle and has no real NFL experience doing this in a 4-3 scheme. He has been a 3-4 player his entire career.

This week the Bears went out and signed Mike Pennel, an unsigned free agent who had been in Chicago last year at camp and was cut. In his very first practice after coming in off the street, Pennel was put on the field with starters as the nose tackle. This says a great deal about the front in general.

PFF's Ben Linsey describes new three technique Justin Jone as mediocre and free agent acquisition Al-Quadin Muhammad as an average to slightly above average player.

After describing no-show Robert Quinn as the team's line star, Linsey adds, "The rest of the unit beyond Quinn looks uninspiring on paper."

The only team with a worse line according to PFF is the Atlanta Falcons. Since Ryan Pace is now working for the Falcons, this can be expected to improve because it was Pace who built the Bears defensive line from 2015-2021 that was the key to some strong defensive seasons

The other next-to-last ranking is for new head coaches and it is in regards to the team or mess they inherit. Coach Matt Eberflus is No. 9 on a list of 10 new head coaches in terms of what he inherits, according to NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks.

At least he's in a better situation than the one inherited by Houston and former Bears coach Lovie Smith, according to Brooks.

Brooks lauds Eberflus' attempt to re-establish a blue-collar approach

"The play of the offensive and defensive lines must improve immediately for the Bears to gain ground on their rivals," wrote Brooks, in keeping with the line of thinking also found in the PFF articles.

Brooks concludes that because of the hand dealt Eberflus, he "... will need to convince his team to outwork opponents in order to chalk up wins this season."

Just two more reasons why the over/under at betting sites for the Bears is 6 1/2 and the smart money is finding its way onto the down side.

The one good thing for the Bears about being ranked only ahead of the Texans and Falcons at two different aspects of the game?

They get to play both of those teams this season.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven