Bear Digest

Best Bears offensive hope might be a budding dominant defense

Analysis: Tremaine Edmunds and the Bears defense tallied three interceptions against a high-powered offense again at practice, showing a potential for regular season thievery.
Gene Chamberlain|
Tremaine Edmunds and the Bears defense are making takeaways in practices with high-powered offenses a regular practice.
Tremaine Edmunds and the Bears defense are making takeaways in practices with high-powered offenses a regular practice. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Chicago Bears Vide

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One fact about Bears practices to date provides a positive defensive outlook for the season's start.

They have done a solid job daily of denying Caleb Williams and the'first-team offense, totally shut down Miami's first team offense in joint practices and on Friday they took the ball away from NFL MVP Josh Allen and a high-powered offense three times with interceptions—just as they did against Miami in practice. They actually had a fourth interception but a penalty wiped out one in 7-on-7, and the backups took it away with a fumble recovery for a TD return by Alex Cook. 

The bottom line is they've done it with their starting slot cornerback sidelined the past week and best player out all training camp. They've used Josh Blackwell and Nick McCloud in the slot to take Kyler Gordon's place, Nahshon Wright in place Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and adjusted well to the new man-to-man coverage style of coordinator Dennis Allen.

"Kyler is, obviously, a dynamic playmaker," linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. "When you have him out there, his presence is always felt. I can't knock those other guys. Those other guys have stepped in and been balling. Nick has been balling, man, all those guys have been balling, coming up with some good plays.

"Blackwell came in, he's been balling, had a pick the other day. It just really gives those guys opportunities to come in and get reps, and really just to show the coaches, show the teammates what they can do. For me, I've seen those guys flying around, making a lot of plays. I'm just hoping Kyler does his thing, as far as get healthy. We'll definitely be there when he's ready."

Gordon has a soft tissue injury.

"Kyler is, obviously, a dynamic playmaker," Edmunds said. "When you have him out there, his presence is always felt."

As well as their defense has performed, there will be uncertainty. Their pass rush is the biggest question mark and they had very little pressure against Buffalo, which still had problems attacking their tight man-to-man coverage.

"I don't want to really get into the comparison-type thing, because that really does us nothing right now," Edmunds said. "Just as far as defense this year, not so much in comparison, DA (Allen) is aggressive."

It's been a common thing for the defense to try and avoid comparisons to Matt Eberflus' zone-based scheme. They produced takeaways in that scheme just as they seem equipped now to do it in an entirely different type of coverage. No sense dwelling on past failure.

Edmunds won't go beyond being aggressive with his predictions of where the defense is headed, but he came away grateful for the chance to get sharper by playing against his old team.

"That's a good offense we faced," Edmunds said. "We're a good defense. When you have two good opposing forces out there, you get the best out of each other."

When they're taking the ball away with regularity against the NFL MVP and offense as explosive as Miami's, perhaps it says something positive for their own offense that the interceptions of Caleb Williams and others have slowed and even stopped on some days.

The concept they all agreed on when practices started was iron sharpens iron.

What they have to hope for now is their own defense has sharpened Williams and the offense to the point where it can be a challenge for opposing defenses. Sunday's game can provide a better test of this.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

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.