Bear Digest

Chicago Bears on a record pace and couldn't enjoy it less

The rushing defense for the Bears brings back memories of the bygone Marc Trestman era, an issue for Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen to address in the bye week.
Gene Chamberlain|
The Bears bounced off Ashton Jeanty Sunday and it's not a new problem for them or specific to facing that opponent.
The Bears bounced off Ashton Jeanty Sunday and it's not a new problem for them or specific to facing that opponent. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears run defense has been so porous under coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen that after four games they are well above the pace to set a team record for most rushing yards allowed per attempt.

Their worst in franchise history was 5.35 per run in 2013 when Mel Tucker was coordinator.

The Bears are giving up 6.1 yards a run, which not only is worst in the NFL but is closing in on the all-time NFL record set by the extinct Cincinnati Reds team from 1934 at 6.4 yards an attempt, back when they played fewer games and wore leather helmets.

When the Bears allowed 7.7 yards a carry Sunday, it was a total embarrassment.

"That’s not what Chicago Bears football is about," Ben Johnson said.

It's not good, obviously, but doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world  if they can keep the average around 5.0. Where they're currently at would be a disaster over the course of a season because even the 1978 Buffalo Bills were below that (5.8) and they have the record  for most rushing yards allowed in a season at 3,228.

Eventually, teams will stop passing and try running all the time if they can achieve this type of success.

However, the 2006 Indianapolis Colts finished last in the NFL at 5.3 yards allowed per rush. All they did was beat the Bears in the Super Bowl for the Lombardi Trophy.

It's possible in modern football to be porous against the run and still win because of the emphasis on passing, but not easy. The Chiefs haven't exactly been stout against the run every year since Andy Reid's team has been a perennial Super Bowl contender, finishing 31st one year at yards allowed per rush. However, they're able to offset that with Patrick Mahomes' passing.

There are several theories on why the Bears have had so much trouble  defending the run. The most plausible is they have had T.J. Edwards, Kyler Gordon out of the lineup and on Sunday Grady Jarrett. There are others.

“We're not fitting up the run as well as we need to," safety Kevin Byard said. "A lot of it also is not getting enough back penetration, with the front four, front seven, whatever it may be. Then obviously on the back end, guys like myself included, when those runs do break out, we need to be able to get those guys down. I didn't do a good enough job of that (Sunday) on the big, I think the 64-yard run. It is everybody included.

"It's not just the D-line or the linebackers. It is all of us included. We all have to be better."

Another idea expressed by Grady Jarrett last week was how they're still trying to adjust to how they play up front in Dennis Allen's scheme. They're required to immediately attack blockers and then get in a gap and attack when they've determined if it's run or to rush the passer. In other schemes, it's get in the gap immediately and attack, like they did under Matt Eberflus. Or else it's occupy blockers at the line and let linebackers make plays, a two-gap approach.

They just need to be quicker to make that judgment when they get off the blocks and into the gap, Jarrett said. That  would help their non-existent pass rush, as well, as only three teams have fewer sacks than their total of five.

"We're not shedding blocks to the degree we'd like to yet, or at least as consistently as we'd like to yet," coach Ben Johnson offered, confirming he isn't all offense. "We're not making tackles in space as well as we're capable of. We did enough live tackling over the course of training camp that I thought we'd be a little further along in that regard in the first four games."

The other way to offset such weaknesses than the way the Chiefs have done it over the years is to take the ball away. The Bears definitely have done this. They had four takeaways in each of the last two games, both wins.

"But getting those takeaways is huge," Byard said. "Taking points off the board is huge for team success. At the end of the day, yards are yards. You want to be able to limit those yards, but the most important thing is getting the win and taking points off the board and being good in the red zone.”

How often are teams going to produce four takeaways in successive weeks, though? Not even the best defenses maintain a rate like that.

After a while, if they're going to give up so many yards rushing the Bears will not face enough passes to take many away with interceptions.

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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.