Defenseless Teams Coming to Chicago?

The slate of defensive teams facing the Bears in 2023 for road games is quiet different than the group coming to Soldier Field.

Unless there is immediate and drastic offensive line improvement by the Bears this season, Justin Fields' fortunes might be a bit Jekyll and Hyde-ish.

Fields faces a home schedule loaded with some of the league's weaker pass defenses and poor pass rushes from last season. The Bears passing attack could flourish in home games based on last year's statistics.

The worst places to play in the NFL for quarterbacks and offensive lines are always noisier opposing stadiums but every stadium can be noisy. The absolute worst places have the usual crowd noise plus strong defensive teams, particularly a good pass rush. Fields is going to endure this in 2023 based on last year's statistics.

It's possible it could offer up a fairly distorted view of Fields' ability depending on whether he's viewed on the road or at home, based on last year's stats.

The key, of course, is "last year." It's possible both Detroit and Minnesota will be better defensively. The Lions fortified their secondary in free agency and the Vikings have Brian Flores as defensive coordinator, even if they really haven't done much to upgrade their defensive personnel. Flores has never been a defensive coordinator, but his defenses with the Dolphins improved from 30th in the league his first year to 20th his second year and 15th his final year.

Punching Bags at Soldier Field?

There isn't a team among those coming to Soldier Field in 2023 that ranked in the top half of the league in sacks last year. In fact, they only have one opponent coming to Soldier Field that ranked higher than 20th in sacks.

Those teams might have an individual pass rusher or two who stood out but their team didn't rate in the top half. Green Bay was 26th, Denver 23rd, Minnesota 20th, Las Vegas 30th, Carolina 25th, Arizona 23rd and Atlanta 31st.

Part of the issue going hand in hand with teams the Bears play at home was they simply had poor overall pass defenses.

Only the Lions among them ranked in the top half of the league for pass completion percentage allowed and only Green Bay and Denver ranked in the top half of the league in fewest passing yards allowed. The Bears play at home against pass defenses ranked 31st (Vikings), 30th (Lions), 29th (Raiders), 25th (Falcons), 24th (Cardinals) and 23rd (Panthers). The Packers were sixth in yards allowed and Broncos 13th.

So, if 2023 follows 2022 to any extent, Fields, DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet could flourish at Soldier Field.

In general, the slate of teams coming to Soldier Field is weak as the teams have a combined 59-77 record with only the Lions and Vikings over .500 last year.

Defenses Coming to Chicago

Opponent, 2022 record	Pass Defense Rank	Completion Pct. Rank	Sack Rank
Packers 8-9	6th	21st	26th
Broncos 5-12	13th	18th	23rd
Vikings 13-4	31st	24th	20th
Raiders 6-11	29th	30th	30th
Panthers 7-10	23rd	23rd	25th
Lions 9-8	30th	12th	17th
Cardinals 4-13	24th	32nd	23rd
Falcons 7-10	25th	25th	31st

Road Warriors Required

The Bears can't stay home all year. They play more road games than home games and things could look quite different for Fields and the offense in hostile conditions.

Road opponents will challenge the Bears offense on a weekly basis, based again on last year's statistics.

It's not a total buzzsaw, as there are a few softer defensive touches for them to attack. However, it's definitely nothing close to the home schedule. Bears road opponents this season owned a 84-68-1 record last year.

Seven of the nine opponents ranked in the top 20 in team sacks, the Chiefs second and Saints sixth.

The Saints were second against the pass, Washington fourth, the Browns fifth, Green Bay sixth, the Chargers seventh and Tampa Bay 10th. That's sixth of the nine opponents in the top 10 against the pass. Only the Chiefs (19th), Lions (30th) and Vikings (31st) were not a top 10 pass defense among teams on the Bears road schedule and playing Kansas City becomes more a matter of trying to score enough points to keep up with Patrick Mahomes, while, as stated, Detroit and Minnesota figure to be better against the pass this season.

Road opponents were generally stingy allowing completions. Washington was second in pass completion percentage allowed, New Orleans third, Cleveland fourth, the Chargers seventh, Detroit 12th and Tampa Bay 15th. Only the Chiefs (22nd), Packers (21st) and Vikings (24th) ranked in the bottom half of the league in completion percentage allowed.

Fields, his offensive line and receivers will need to hit the road ready to compete this season. It's not going to be like playing at Soldier Field.

Defenses Bears Face on Road

Opponents, 2022 Record	Pass Defense Rank	Completion .Pct Rank	Sacks Rank
Buccaneers 8-9	10th	15th	10th
Chiefs 14-3	19th	22nd	2nd
Commanders 8-8-1	4th	2nd	12th
Chargers 10-7	7th	7th	16th
Lions 9-8	30th	12th	17th
Vikings 13-4	31st	24th	20th
Browns 7-10	5th	4th	26th
Saints 7-10	2nd	3rd	6th
Packers 8-9	6th	21st	28th

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven