Bear Digest

Most Improved Aspect of This Bears Team Very Easy to Identify

Analysis: One huge question mark coming into the season has been solved very early in the season and is exceeding all expectations.
Gene Chamberlain|
Big Andrew Billings gets in on Sunday's sack parade as the Bears pass rush gets to Andy Dalton.
Big Andrew Billings gets in on Sunday's sack parade as the Bears pass rush gets to Andy Dalton. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It's easy to see the most surprising and improved aspect of this Bears team so far.

It's not the secondary, because everyone expected them to be this good and they have been. An NFL best 68.2 passer rating against, leading the Vikings by 2.1 points, makes it plain to see they're succeeding, and they're tied for third in takeaways with 11.

It's their defensive line, hands down.

When the Bears finished offseason talent acquisition, GM Ryan Poles' work was deemed a failure in some respects because the only edge rushers they added were rookie Austin Booker and veteran journeyman Jacob Martin.

Martin hasn't even played, remains on injured reserve and is eligible to return now. He hasn't.

Even with Montez Sweat, the Bears were graded one of the worst defensive lines in the league by Pro Football Focus, at 27th.

But Poles wasn't done at the traditional point in time for such things and traded a sixth-round pick for Darrell Taylor, who has two sacks, eight pressures and six QB hits. He's graded 25th out of 113 NFL edge players by PFF and has given them the rotation they need.

Aside from the signing of safety Kevin Byard, who PFF now grades fourth in the NFL among 80 safeties, Taylor has to be among their most impactful offseason additions. He's sixth in the league in pash rush win rate (27%) according to ESPN analytics.

Last year the Bears were 31st in sacks with 30, 20 of those after they traded for Sweat. Two years ago they were last in sacks.

Now they are within a few sacks of the top 10 in the league. They are tied for 12th with 14. The pressure helps their passer rating against and helps lead to the takeaways. They even had a quiet sack last week from rookie Austin Booker, the first of his career.

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"The rotation has been great, keeping guys fresh and really platooning guys through there," coach Matt Eberflus said. "I think (defensive line coach) Travis (Smith) has done a good job of that during the game. You have your guys fresh in the fourth quarter, fresh on third down to make sure they can operate in terms of an energy level."

He could just as easily have credited defensive coordinator Eric Washington, as well. Wherever Washington has been as a defensive coordinator or defensive line coach, the defenses have prospered.

It hasn't just been the rush from outside. Andrew Billings (18%) and Gervon Dexter (16%) continue to rate in the top 10 at pass rush win rate, Billings sixth and Dexter seventh. Dexter has 13 pressures, just four less than he had for his full rookie season, and has 10 quarterback hits, only three shy of last year's total. It's not just the sacks.

"In terms of rushing the passer, Gervon has been rotated in and is doing well, and Big Bill (Billings) even got a sack, so that was good to see," Eberflus said. "That was my favorite play of the game."

It's always good for the defense to see a 311-pound tackle engulfing the opposing quarterback.

Billings came in lighter even than last year when he lost about 15 to 20 pounds but Dexter came in ready to rush the passer as well, at 3-technique.

"He changed his body, he really worked hard," Eberflus said. "He really goes hard in practice. He's got his wind, his conditioning part of it down. He really established that during training camp. He really does a good job taking care of his body so he’s available. He does that really well.

"He owns the position. I think he has taken off that way. He's got the athletic ability and the determination to get that done. Again, this is week-to-week, he's building on some good performances, and he'll hopefully go forward with it."

A year ago they couldn't have imagined a defensive line this effective against the pass, maybe even three months ago.

Now it's a key reason they're only two spots away from their self-assigned goal of being a top-five defense.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.