Chicago Bears Insider: Is the Front Four Getting Pressure Alone?
Published by Bryan Dietzler on November 24, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Bears had a pretty nice defensive effort in their game against the Dolphins the other night and it has raised some questions as to whether or not, after a three year hiatus, the front four of the Bears defense is finally starting to get pass pressure on its own.
If you watched that game, you would have seen that the four members of the Bear’s defensive line were able to get pressure on Tyler Thigpen and keep him from completing passes down the field as well as keep him on his back as the defensive line along collected five sacks (the sixth sack came from linebacker Brian Urlacher).
Granted, the front four was playing against a pretty weak offensive line that was suffering injuries as they went along in the game, but still, you have to give the front four credit for the job that they did. They kept the running game at bay and didn’t allow the Dolphins to pass the ball effectively.
The type of defense that the Bears run, the Cover Two, requires that the front four get pressure on the quarterback without having to use any other help (from the linebackers or the secondary). This allows those players to properly cover their lanes and gives the opposing quarterback fewer options to throw the ball to.
With the Cover Two working well, teams have a hard time getting those long gains and have to “dink and dunk” the ball down the field, eating up clock time and frustrating offensive coordinators.
The Cover Two also works well when the team has a lead and the Bears offense is the kind of offense that can build leads and then let their defense tee off and hassle the opposing offense.
The Bears have been working hard to find the right combination of players to make their defensive line better. After seeing how they played on Thursday night, it appears as if they may have finally found the right combination of players. Who are those guys on the defensive line that have been helping to make the Bear’s defense look so good?
Let’s find out.
DE-Julius Peppers
Peppers had three sacks against the Dolphins on Thursday night and it looks like he’s finally become the player that the Bears had hoped that he would when they signed him to that big money contract at the start of free agency.
Peppers had been doing his part in other ways prior to this game and had opened up opportunities for other players on the defensive line to excel. Some of these opportunities have not been taken by the others on the defensive line, at least prior to the Dolphins game.
Perhaps in the future they will be able to take advantage of these opportunities.
DE-Israel Idonije
One player that has taken advantage of the opportunities put forth by Peppers’ presence on the defensive line is Israel Idonije. Idonije leads the team with six sacks so far this season and has also played the run well. He is definitely someone that the line can rely on to come up with some big plays and keep this defense playing well.
DT-Anthony Adams
Adams is the most underrated player on this team and may be one of the most underrated defensive tackle in the NFL today. Adams is doing very well against the run and is getting some great penetration up the field.
He has had a few strong performances so far this season and should continue to help the Bears plug up running lanes in the middle and keep pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
DT-Matt Toeaina
People don’t seem to see to think that Toeaina is playing that well this season, but if you look at his body of work over the course of the last three games, you will see that he is playing just as well as anyone else on the team. He had a rocky start to the year but has picked things up well and has even developed some nice moves to help get past the offensive linemen and make a play.
Toeaina could be an important part of this defense going forward thanks to his ideal size (for the Cover Two defense, defensive coordinators tend to like smaller and faster defensive tackles). He has been able to get some pressure up the field and gets better with each game.
DT-Marcus Harrison
Yes folks, we have had some Marcus Harrison sightings in the past two games, and he actually isn’t playing that badly right now. After spending the first part of the season in the coach’s doghouse (and quite possibly on the chopping block), Harrison has stepped things up a bit and is being used much more on the defensive line. He has great penetration and can get up the field in a hurry.
Let’s just hope that he can continue to improve and doesn’t suffer any kind of lazy streak later on in the season because the Bears are going to need him.
We finally get to the guy who was supposed to have a “renaissance” this season but has clearly failed to live up to expectations. It’s sad to think of what we had in Harris just a few seasons ago compared to what we have now. He’s no longer anything like he used to be and thinking about what he could do if he could still play like he did back then is disheartening.
Although Harris has had some good moments this season, he is clearly not the answer the Bears have been seeking at the position this season.
DT/DE-Henry Melton-Melton has had a very good season so far and is a nice option in the rotation especially when the Bears need to add some speed to the lineup. As the season has gone on, Melton has gotten better and he’s a real asset on the line. The Bears may choose to use him much more in the future especially against running quarterbacks like Michael Vick.
So now we go back to our original question. Can the Bears get pressure with just their front four alone? Any good offensive line will cause the Bears problems but with a guy like Peppers taking up two blockers most of the time, the Bears front four should be able to get some pressure.
As the season has moved on, we have seen the defensive line get much better in being able to put pressure on the opposing quarterback but one game won’t turn things around or make the Bears defense a top pass rushing unit. If anything, the Bears game against the Dolphins gives them something to build upon as they move through the rest of the season.
As long as the Bears defense, as a whole, can keep containment on opponent’s rushing attacks and force them to pass the ball more often which then increases the chances that mistakes will be made. It’s these mistakes that the Bears defense can feed off of. But the Bears have been picked apart by teams through the air so they need to be careful here.
The front four can get pressure on their own and it looks like they are poised to finish the season strong (in terms of rushing the passer). If they can indeed rush the passer on their own, Chicago will definitely play better on defense the rest of the season.
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