Bears Expect Defensive Reversal of Fortunes

After the Bears beat the New England Patriots on Oct 24 33-14, their defense was ranked 12th in the league.

Entering the final week, they are 28th and are 31st against the run, so defensive coordinator Alan Williams and his staff—as well as GM Ryan Poles -- have plenty of work to do to solidify a ship that ran aground during the season.

Some of it had to do with the trades of Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. More had to do with the lack of players who fit the Tampa-2 style defense they're using under coach Matt Eberflus.

Williams is confident this will happen, but refuses to get pinned down on when to expect his group to accomplish this.

Considering the defense figures to have a huge turnover in 2023, it's probably a good policy to avoid such predictions because no one knows who will be manning those spots.

"Well everyone wants to put a timeline on it," Williams said. "Hey it should happen by Game 4 or it should happen by Game 6, but I'm not going to put a timeline on it. I'm not going to let anyone nail me down to Game 1, Game 2, Game 3. It happens as it happens and it happens as you build it and we're going to keep staying true to it and keep working at it."

The Bears might need three or four new starting defensive linemen next year. They might need another linebacker and another cornerback.

"We will continue to build and sometimes when you're building or you're setting the foundation, the results don't come right away," Williams said. "What we don't want to do is be a microwave organization to say, hey, the results better come right now and we'll make these changes that are–and I don't want to say irrational–but we don't want to make changes in the mindset that we want it to happen right now. We're not like that."

The idea, Williams said, is to make changes in line with what they know will work for long-term success, and to do that the coaching staff needs changes that fit their scheme.

The season hasn't gone for naught on defense, Williams maintained. There are some players in place who have improved enough to fit into the future plans.

"As we talk about this, Kyler Gordon has gotten better," Williams said. "Eddie (Jackson), before he got hurt was, I'd say that Eddie should have been in the Pro Bowl.

"(Jaquan) Brisker is playing very, very well. Before Jack Sanborn got hurt he was a topic of discussion each week and we said, 'hey he looks like a real starting linebacker.' So there are pieces in there when you say individually that can play winning football."

There are players who potentially could contribute but need work. Rookie pass rusher Dominique Robinson started out great with 1 1/2 sacks and a tackle for loss in the opener, then the rest of the year had no sacks and one more tackle for loss. He has started six of the last seven games and has had more than two tackles only twice.

Robinson was a wide receiver in college before switching positions late in his career so it's understandable if he seems like someone who needs to get bigger.

"When he goes away he's going to go away with the idea that he's going to change his body around a little bit for a 17- 18- 19- 20-game season," Williams said. "And so your body has to be ready to do that. And so that's one piece."

The other is his experience.

"Coming in knowing what you have ahead of you, that's another piece, that everything is not a new experience," Williams said. "And I do think that when that happens on top of your body being bigger, your body being stronger, you'll get a better product from him."

As a result of these natural improvements and bringing in talent, Williams does believe next year "...results will be better."

Just don't ask him when it will happen, though.

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