Bear Digest

One Subtle Bears Issue Can Only Be Solved by Matt Eberflus

Analysis: The Bears' talent gap appears to have closed on both Green Bay and Detroit but there are a few potential problems and one needs to be answered by their coach.

Gene Chamberlain

Montez Sweat made a big difference for the Bears defense but a few other issues could set back the progress they made.
Montez Sweat made a big difference for the Bears defense but a few other issues could set back the progress they made. / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
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This Bears team has well-defined strengths after all of the offseason moves toward a stronger offense.

There are real problems, as well. They're often hidden by the euphoria over a team suddenly loaded with new talent on a side of the football so often neglected in the past.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com and co-host of the Around the NFL Podcast has given out the obligatory pats on the back for the efforts made by GM Ryan Poles on offense in an article looking at all the NFC North's projected starters.

Although Rosenthal's aim with this article is more identifying starters for teams and weighing which team stands out, he pinpoints two real issues the Bears face and they are not on offense.

As usually is the case with analysis, it's overly optimistic about the Bears offense based on all their changes. Often new systems and new players don't click immediately. They're not all the 2023 Houston Texans. They can be more like the 2022 Denver Broncos, too.

A rookie quarterback can further complicate matters.

The Obvious Defensive Line Issue

The first is the defensive line, which is often pointed at as a problem.

"The Bears need their 2023 draft picks (second-rounder Gervon Dexter Sr. and third-rounder Zacch Pickens) to step up at defensive tackle, and Montez Sweat, a great midseason acquisition last year, needs more help in a thin edge group," Rosenthal wrote.

Nothing new here, although bringing up the defensive tackles is at least commendable because too often the offseason analysis of the Bears across the internet focused on their lack of an edge rusher. It's the 3-technique where they could have real problems because of the loss of Justin Jones, who had 22 tackles for loss the last two seasons. 

Neither of the rookies displayed an ability to shoot the B-gap and get into the backfield to wipe out running plays before they materialize as well as Jones did. Jones failed to make a big impact as an interior pass rusher but his run-stopping ability improved drastically once the Bears defense had a solid nose tackle helping keep the double-team blocks off the 3-technique, in Andrew Billings.

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The ability to stop the run is what the foundation for this Bears defense. Getting upfield in the gap lets them prevent the run, forcing passing situations and with a better pass rush now after the trade for Sweat, they're able to play seven back in pass defense with pressure on the QB from the front four. Fail to stop the run and it all crumbles, and Dexter was 118th against the run among 130 NFL defensive tackles graded last year by Pro Football Focus.

The Bears Problem Often Ignored

The subtle issue Rosenthal points out is at the end of his summary about Bears starters, and it's about Matt Eberflus.

"Caleb Williams is worth the hype," Rosenthal wrote. "He has enough help around him. But Eberflus still has to prove he can keep up before we put the Bears ahead of the Lions or Packers."

Putting it that way, "keep up," is a polite way to say it.

Last year the Bears blew big late leads against the Lions, the Browns and Broncos. His defense failed to prevent key scores at the end of those games and two of those came after the Bears defense had Sweat playing in it.

Again, it crops up and no one talks about it. Eberflus defenses have been excellent at forcing turnovers. He had four teams top 10 in takeaways with the Colts. They led the NFL in interceptions last year and were top five in takeaways even after a poor start before Sweat's arrival.

However, this problem with relying on too much soft coverage at the end of games burned Eberflus defenses in the past just like last year.

In fact, this is a problem that even worries Bears unabashed supporter Adam Rank from NFL Network.

In 2018 the Colts couldn't finish off three games late. In 2019 it happened six times. In 2020 it happened twice. And in 2021 there were five incidents of late-game failure.

In 2022 with the Bears, there were three incidents of this while Alan Williams was defensive coordinator. But last year after Williams' resignation, the Denver, Cleveland and Detroit games all could have been won with one key stop or a couple of downs with positive results. The Bears failed at this. A few key calls by Eberflus made a difference. One, in particular, was the loss in Cleveland when he had Jones, the 3-technique, drop off the line and play pass coverage on tight end David Njoku in the open field with disasterous results.

To say they'll be better on defense at protecting leads is being overly optimistic, since they did nothing to improve the pass rush except draft a second project type in Austin Booker to go with failing project Dominique Robinson.

Eberflus is still calling the defensive plays even with Eric Washington on the staff as the new defensive coordinator.

The Bears coach is going to need to prove he has improved as much as he has believes his defense has.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.