Bear Digest

Tough for Bears to Stop NFC North Spiral Without Fixing This Issue

Around the NFC North: The rest of the Bears schedule is almost all in the division and winning a game will be tough without fixing one unforeseen problem area.

Gene Chamberlain

Losing Andrew Billings for the season now looms very large for a Bears defense collapsing against running attacks.
Losing Andrew Billings for the season now looms very large for a Bears defense collapsing against running attacks. / Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images
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The cold, honest assessment of the Bear defense by Jaylon Johnson probably lacked the impact of Mike Brown's 2005 assessment.

"We're just terrible. It's like we suck," Brown so famously hollered in the locker room after they started 1-3.

The turnaround then occurred and the Bears went to the playoffs, then the Super Bowl the next season.

This moment by Johnson was less dramatic and probably less impactful.

"I mean, like I said, I don't do all the hopes and dreams and all that," Johnson said. "At the end of the day like I've been saying for a very long time, we got to win on Sunday.

"So I mean, right now we're in a slump. I've been in slumps four, five years in a row now. So, I mean at the end of the day, I don't look for, 'Ok, what is going to be better in the future?' God damnit. It will be better when it's better So, right now it's not better. That's all I can go off of."

Johnson spoke plainly about where this spiral starts and it's with the defense. It's with what the Bears thought was a strength based on last year's success.

"I would honestly say it starts with the up front in the run," Johnson said. "I feel like we've been giving up a lot of run yards and then I feel like explosive plays really been killing us.

"I think overall, outside of that, we're good. Third down we're good, in red zone. I think just those two things have held us back from being who we know we can be."

It's easy to give up another part of the defense, but what he said is entirely true.

The Bears haven't been able to stop the run all year, but it's become especially difficult for them to do since Andrew Billings' season-ending injury. They dropped from 10th to 24th in run defense and came back up a bit but are still 20th. Without their force inside against the run, they're going to have trouble in a division with good running backs and strong offenses.

"We’ve had change in personnel," coach Matt Eberflus said. "We lost Billings. Of course he’s a really good run stopper. But again it’s the next man up and we’ve got to do a good job of that this week. It’s a big challenge.”

And on Thanksgiving they're playing a Lions team that would just give it to the running backs every down if they didn't also have a few effective receivers who need the ball in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta.

The Bears are 26th in yards allowed per carry and they're facing Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, along with that nasty Detroit offensive line.

The blame here probably falls with GM Ryan Poles and Eberflus for not pushing for more help at the defensive tackle position. They assumed Gervon Dexter was ready to be the 3-technique. He has been a good pass rusher but doing both has been a problem.

They had Jones playing 3-technique last year alongside Billings and it was Jones' second year in the defense. They didn't keep him in free agency as Arizona paid him over $30 million for three years, and then he suffered a season-ending injury with the Cardinals as the season was just beginning.

But Jones made a difference with 22 tackles for loss over the last two seasons. Their tackles for loss leader is Montez Sweat with seven.

They're at least a year away with the development of Dexter and Zacch Pickens. DT is a position often requiring three or four years.

Stopping the run still makes teams one-dimensional. The Bears will need to add this position to their list of needs for depth purposes in the offseason to make sure they don't have shortages at a vital position again.

Even if there is coaching regime change, you need defensive tackles. It's where success starts on defense and in this division the run defense was what gave the Bears a chance last year.

NFC North On SI Rankings

  1. Lions, 2. Vikings, 3. Packers, 4. Bears

BEARS AND LIONS GAME DAY PREVIEW

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Detroit Lions

John Maakaron, Detroit Lions On SI

This Week: Bears at Ford Field, Noon Thursday

Player They're Most Thankful For: The Lions have plenty to be thankful for with their early season success, and it’s hard to single out just one player with how good the team has been as a whole. Still, the anchor has been quarterback Jared Goff. The fan base expresses their appreciation for the passer each and every week with chants of his name, both at home and on the road. His story of bouncing back from adversity resonates with the fan base, and he has delivered success to the fans that is uncommon for the organization.

Keys to Victory: Dominate early. The Bears have enough firepower to compete in a shootout, so stifling them early before they get a chance to get going will be paramount for the defense. If the Lions can start fast, they can employ their trademark ball-control style in the second half. However, if they come out of the gates slowly and allow the Bears to gain confidence, this game could become very difficult down the stretch.

Minnesota Vikings

Joe Nelson, Minnesota Vikings On SI

This Week: Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium, Noon Sunday

Player They're Most Thankful For: Justin Jefferson. Imagine a world where Jefferson isn't dressed in purple and gold. Minnesota would be a wasteland, "Mad Max" style. Sam Darnold wouldn't be putting up the respectable numbers he is with Jefferson, and defenses would be able to shut down Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson because they wouldn't have to use two or three defenders to cover the best receiver in the world. Without Jefferson, the Vikings might be 2-9 instead of 9-2. He's that good.

Keys to Victory: Score points. It sounds silly, but Arizona has allowed just one offensive touchdown in the past 12 quarters. Of course, playing Bears during peak offensive struggles followed by a date with the hapless Jets is a recipe for defensive success and the Cardinals took full advantage of those opportunities. But they also held Seattle to 16 points at home. The Cardinals are a sneaky team capable of leaving Minnesota with a win. The Vikings cannot turn the ball over in the red zone and get away with it like they have in wins over the Jaguars, Titans and Bears.

Green Bay Packers

Bill Huber, Green Bay Packers On SI

This Week: Dolphins at Lambeau Field, 7:20 p.m. Thursday

Player They're Most Thankful For: Aaron Jones is one of the best running backs in Packers history and a true face-of-the-franchise player. But where would the Packers be without Josh Jacobs? Coach Matt LaFleur always seemed reluctant to give Jones a heavy workload. He has no such issues with Jacobs, who had 19 carries in the first half alone and 26 for the game against San Francisco, even knowing the Packers would have to face the Dolphins on a short week. Jacobs is third in the NFL in rushing, oftentimes gaining 3, 4 or 5 yards on his own.

Keys to Victory: Since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for four games, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is second in the NFL with a 116.2 passer rating, fifth with 1,277 yards and second with plus-10 touchdowns vs. interceptions. Dealing with Tagovailoa and receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle would be a challenge under any circumstances. Doing it without Jaire Alexander? Somehow, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has to take away the big play without allowing Tagovailoa to simply pick apart soft zone defenses.

Chicago Bears

Gene Chamberlain, Chicago Bears On SI

This Week: Bears at Lions, Ford Field, 11:30 a.m. Thursday

Player They're Most Thankful For: Caleb Williams. He gives them hope for the future. While some doubters remained as recently as two weeks ago, it had become apparent long ago he had the arm and was reading defenses well. After two strong efforts against better defenses, Williams has made it apparent he is the player everyone hoped on draft day. He hasn't thrown an interception in 193 passes and three times led late drives to set up Bears wins or OT, only to see it all come tumbling down in defeat due to the rest of the team or coaching decisions. Williams is about all the Bears can be thankful for this year, although Rome Odunze has shown promise for the future as well.

Keys to Victory:  One key is taken care of already with the schedule since the Lions haven't won on Thanksgiving since 2016 and the Bears have won four straight on turkey day.  On the field, the only way the Bears will win this game is re-ignite a pass rush like they had earlier in the season. When Jared Goff gets pressured up the middle, he tends to panic and throw interceptions. He threw five against the Texans but Detroit still won. So, all the Bears will need is a strong pass rush against the best offensive line in the NFL and then six interceptions.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.