Defensive Worries Can Drag Down Bears

It's true Bears coach Matt Eberflus turned around the Indianapolis Colts defense in his first year from a group ranking near the bottom of the league.

It's an extreme exaggeration to say he had better talent as that team's defensive coordinator than he inherits on defense as Bears head coach. In fact, it might even be the other way around. Saying their overall level is similar might suffice.

A veteran and disruptive Roquan Smith compares well to rookie Darius Leonard at the same position. The potential for the Bears secondary looks better than the players the Colts had in that first season with Eberflus. There is no comparison between the edge rushers as the Bears are far better, as long as they don't trade Robert Quinn. Only on the defensive line interior did those Colts look decisively better, but this is a critical area for this defensive scheme.

The Bears ranked sixth on defense last year but it was a hollow top-10 ranking. They were third on pass defense but had the worst passer rating against in the entire league. They reached a franchise low for interceptions with eight. Their run defense was the worst it had been since 2016 and ranked in the league's bottom third. Only Quinn's record-setting 18 1/2 sacks, combined with 13 from Khalil Mack and Trevis Gipson kept them from a total collapse.

More important than the yards, they were 22nd in the league in points allowed.

All of that is gone now. The scheme is gone. The type of players used for that scheme are almost entirely gone.

So their issues are different and comparing them to last year or earlier in the Matt Nagy coaching era means virtually nothing.

The Bears have new defensive uncertainties to go with their new in a Tampa-2 base scheme as they head to training camp in less than two weeks.

5. Is Justin Jones a Three Technique?

If he isn't, this could be a really long season for the defense because the front can't operate without a proper attacking inside lineman who align off the guard's outside shoulder.

"Obviously I love the athletic ability, I love the man, I love his attitude," Eberflus said of Jones. "He's working super hard, and again, the evaluation will continue to go all the way through training camp. Like we said, when we put the pads on, then we get our true evaluation. But where he is right now, we are extremely excited about that."

Still, Jones did not play an exact 4-3 three technique in the Chargers 3-4 defense, even if he was doing something similar.

"I think it's gonna be pretty easy for (Jones) because they (Chargers) played a lot of what I call under front," Eberflus said. "So they set their three technique away from the tight end. So he's been playing some three technique.

"So that, to me, that's why we really recruited him and brought him here. We saw visual evidence on tape that he could do the spot. He's done a good job with it. It’s a takeoff position. It lends to his athletic ability, and he's just gonna get better and better and better. So I didn’t really see the jump because it was a 3-4 system."

Jones does appear to be an active, explosive athlete but 4 1/2 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in four years do not scream out "Tommie Harris" to anyone. He'll need to prove it, and as such he is an uncertainty.

4. Is Alan Williams a Coordinator?

Williams isn't a new defensive coordinator. He took over Leslie Frazier's defense with the Vikings in 2012 and they improved from next to last in points allowed to 14th and from 21st to 16th in yards allowed. The next season they gave up more points than any team in the league, were next to last in yards allowed and dropped from 11th to 16th against the run. Frazier and the coaching staff got fired and Williams became a position coach again.

Now Eberflus says he has given the car keys to Williams. That's as long as they're running the Eberflus style of defense, anyway. But this is something Williams has great familiarity with as a secondary coach with Tony Dungy in Tampa, then for a decade with the Colts, then four years under Eberflus with the Colts again after a stint in Detroit.

So did eight seasons as a DB coach give him a better perspective and knowledge of the scheme to produce better results than with the Vikings in 2012-13, and how much will he stray from Eberflus' methodology?

3. Is There a Nickel Cornerback in the House?

They signed Ravens free agent Tavon Young for this but he's hardly a fixture at the Pro Bowl or Ronde Barber clone. Young had his best season at the position in 2021, allowing just a passer rating against of 85.1 when targeted and 65.5% completions (38 of 58, 2 TDs). Those are above-average numbers for so difficult a positon to play.

However, he has been plagued through his career with injuries, had abysmal passer ratings against of 111.8 and 109.7 in 2018 and 2020 when he was healthy, and in 2018 gave up five TDs as QBs picked on him.

Young didn't get a lot of practice time with first team in the offseason. Instead, they let Thomas Graham Jr. have a shot and he may or may not know how to play the spot. Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Duke Shelley are other options there, but they really need this to be Young's spot as they have plans for most of the other DBs.

Just after his hiring Eberflus labeled slot cornerback right with three technique and weak side linebacker as positions they need to have right in this scheme. Do they have it right?

2. Can They Stop the Run?

It's at least somewhat linked with the issue at three technique. If you can't stop the run, then the defense is worthless.

The Bear saw this in 2014. They slid last year to 23rd against the run and its impact was obvious.

It's no simple task to convert from two-gap responsibility with bigger linemen to single gap with lighter, more athletic players attacking across the board. They can get out of their gaps easily when attacking and get gashed by running backs.

The right three technique disrupts offenses but it's really a total effort by the front. The nose must occupy the center to keep him from initiating a double team on the three technique while maintaining A-gap integrity. The linebackers need to be in their lanes. The ends need to be disciplined to keep from allowing an easy path outside but also be able to rush off the edge. So it's not all on Jones.

Smith last year was ranked by PFF 80th against the run among linebackers with a 30.0 grade. When only 87 linebackers were graded, that's not very good.

Even if you reject Smith's grade as the usual PFF foul-up, how much of these struggles the Bears had against the run were Eddie Goldman failing to hold down blockers as the two-gapper keeping linebackers clean, and how much was Smith struggling, if any?

It's an all-new approach now for Smith as an attacker. It could suit him well or he might wind up causing big gaps in the defense by venturing too far out of his lane of responsibilty.

How this front performs against the run is camp's greatest uncertainty because no one has worn pads, tackled or blocked.

1. The Bears Offense

If they're not going to score and they're going to get Justin Fields beat up, what's the point of the defense stopping anyone?

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven