How Bears Defense Fights 2 Opponents Each Sunday
Bears coach Matt Nagy said the self-scout run by his staff during last week's bye told them plenty.
In the end it led to a conclusion most of us could probably have came up with minus a self-scout.
"We got to coach better and they have to play better and that is what it comes down to," Nagy said.
The Bears are going up to play their oldest rival, one which has beaten them 19 of the last 23 times, will face a Hall of Fame quarterback and are taking half a team to play the game.
If it's not half a team, then at best it's a one-sided team.
There is no offense, to put it bluntly.
The Bears are worst in the NFL at:
- Rushing yards (782)
- Rushing first downs (43)
- Rushing touchdowns (2)
- Third-down conversions (31.11%)
- Yards per completion (8.8)
The Bears are next-to last in the NFL in
- Scoring (19.1 per game)
- Yards per game (300.9)
- Average yards per play (4.7)
- Rushing yards per attempt (3.6)
- First downs per game (18.8)
- First downs per play (.292)
In addition, the Bears:
- Have punted more times (5.1 per game) than every team except the Jets (5.4).
- Have thrown more passes (40.2 per game) than everyone except the Cowboys and Bengals.
The Bears are 16th in time of possession and tied for 19th in turning over the ball, indicating they can hold onto the ball but just don't do anything substantial with it.
Often such teams split apart, and in this case it seems players have somehow remained together.
"We don't got that here," said safety Eddie Jackson, who now has been put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. "It's simple. We need to hold each other accountable. Like I said, we got a lot of great leaders on this team. So for us we just got to hold each other accountable. Offensive side of the guys, our leaders, we got to hold each other accountable on that side of the ball like we would on defense.
"And it's that simple. Like I keep saying, man, it starts with accountability. If you're not accountable for your actions and the plays you know you can make, it's not going to work out. It's that simple. So for us, we just got to continue to fight, rally around each other, and just hold each other accountable."
There's much more one side of the ball can hold the other side accountable for, and it's the reason they're going to Green Bay 7 1/2-point underdogs.
It's as if their defense fights two battles each game: one is against the opponent and the other is to make up for their own offense's inabilities.
"We won't care about how pretty it is or how ugly it is as long as we get the win," Nagy said. "Because what that does is it breaks that negative momentum that can come when you're losing, and it can create some positive energy.
"Now, you throw on top of that it's a division game. It's the Packers. It's against a really good football team that's well coached and has a lot of great players. That just makes it even more exciting for our guys."
So this one promises to be a thrill a minute.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
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