Bears Blitz

Published by Matt Eurich on May 10, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

When thinking about Chicago Bears greats—particularly on the defensive side of the football—names like Richard Dent, Steve McMichael and Dan Hampton quickly come to mind. When the Bears were dominating in the mid-to-late 1980s, that trio of defensive linemen was consistently getting after the quarterback. 

Defense in the NFL has evolved over the years, but every team in the league still has one goal: Take down the quarterback.

Under former head coach Marc Trestman and former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker between 2013 and 2014, the Bears struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. In 2013 the team finished the season tied for last in the NFL with just 31 sacks, and that prompted the Bears to add more pass-rushers in free agency last offseason.

The team signed Lamarr Houston, Willie Young and Jared Allen in free agency last year, and while Young eventually led the team with 10 sacks, both Houston and Allen struggled.

Houston registered just one sack but tore his ACL celebrating his takedown of New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and he was lost for the final eight games of the season. Allen struggled with a bout of pneumonia early in the season and finished the year with just 5.5 sacks, the lowest of his career.

As a whole, the team struggled to get after the quarterback again in 2014 and finished 16th in the league with 39 sacks.

The Bears fired Trestman and his staff at the end of last season, and they are moving forward with defensive-minded head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2015.

Fox spent his entire career running a 4-3 defense during his time as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants and as a head coach with the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos, but the team decided to make the shift to a 3-4 defense under Fangio.

“We’ll be base 3-4—that’s accurate and that’s what Vic’s comfortable with—but the best coaches find ways to maximize their players’ skill sets,” general manager Ryan Pace said at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February, according to Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “I know Vic’s going to do that. So our base will be 3-4, but we’ll be in multiple schemes.”

With Fangio in charge of the defense, the team has moved Houston, Allen and Young from 4-3 defensive ends to 3-4 outside linebackers in their new scheme.

Along with those three, the Bears also signed edge-rushers Pernell McPhee and Sam Acho in free agency and have former defensive linemen David Bass, Austen Lane and Jamil Merrell listed as outside linebackers on their unofficial roster.

In addition to those eight linebackers, the Bears could potentially use both Shea McClellin and Christian Jones at outside linebacker. McClellin and Jones will likely be used at inside linebacker, but Fangio believes both have a chance to succeed in the team’s new system, according to Chicago Bears radio network sideline host Zach Zaidman:

The Bears have a lot of options at outside linebacker heading into the season, but how can Fangio get the most out of his pass-rushers?  

 

Create Mismatches with the Starters

Chicago’s addition of McPhee in free agency gives the team plenty of flexibility up front this season. While listed as an outside linebacker, McPhee spent time at outside linebacker, defensive end and defensive tackle with the Baltimore Ravens.

He is strong and powerful, but he is deceptively quick and has registered 17 sacks over the course of the last four seasons in a limited role. Despite his limited snaps, he was extremely productive during his time in Baltimore. 

The Bears can get the most out of McPhee as a pass-rusher this season by creating mismatches. While he has the ability to line up outside and get after the quarterback, he can also be effective lining up inside at defensive tackle.

According to Pro Football Focus, McPhee‘s plus-14.0 pass-rushing productivity rating was the second-best among all 3-4 outside linebackers last season. One way the Ravens were able to create mismatches with McPhee last season was by letting him freelance near the line of scrimmage.

“[Defensive coordinator Dean Pees] gives us the opportunity to freelance; he gave it to us this year,” McPhee said last season, according to Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com. “It’s awesome. It’s like playing backyard football right now.”

McPhee is at his best when given the opportunity to move around, and Fangio should be able to get the most out of not only McPhee by using that strategy, but also Houston.

There is no guarantee Houston will join McPhee as a starter at outside linebacker in Week 1 due to his injury, but he says he feels good about his recovery.

“I feel great,” Houston said last month, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. “But you can feel as good as you want and be able to do a lot of things, but when it comes to doing certain things, you should just take your time and keep building your strength.”

Houston was at his best with the Oakland Raiders when he played outside linebacker, and he is excited to move back outside this season.

“Now I have the opportunity to go back to strictly playing outside linebacker and rushing on the edge,” Houston said, according to Jahns. “I don’t have to necessarily put last year behind me because when I start playing this year, it’s going to be gone.”

Like McPhee, Houston is stout at the point of attack and does a nice job of disrupting the pocket. He has just 17 career sacks, but he consistently applied pressure to the quarterback during his time in Oakland.

In certain situations, the Bears could move both Houston and McPhee inside to create confusion and mismatches along the line of scrimmage. Neither are considered elite pass-rushers, but moving them around and letting them freelance should help open up more opportunities for them to get after the quarterback this season.

McPhee and Houston are the team’s projected starters at outside linebacker, but the Bears have a handful of talented reserves who could play a big part this season as situational pass-rushers. 

 

Rotate the Situational Pass-Rushers

Behind McPhee and Houston, a handful of pass-rushers are trying to learn a brand new position.

Allen spent the first 10 seasons of his career playing for the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings, and during that time he developed into one of the league’s most feared pass-rushers. During his final three seasons in Minnesota, he registered 45.5 sacks, including 22 in 2011.

He has spent his entire career playing with his hand in the ground, but he will be used as an outside linebacker in Fangio‘s new scheme. His main goal will still be to get after the quarterback, but shifting from a three-point stance to a two-point stance will take some getting used to for Allen.

“The rush aspect is going to be the same,” Allen said, according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s just repetitions of getting off the ball in a two-point stance rather than a three-point stance. The matchups it creates is going to be cool. I think there will be a lot more one-on-one opportunities, a lot more mismatches.”

Fangio spoke to the media for the first time over the weekend, and even though Allen will be used as an outside linebacker at times, Fangio thinks the former Pro Bowl defensive end is not making that big of a move in the team’s new defense, saying, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago:

He did well in the minicamp we had here, and I think he was excited about it. Like I told him, I think he can have a rebirth to his career here playing a little bit of a new position. But in the NFL today, you play more nickel than you actually play base. For some teams they play nickel 65 to 75 percent of the time. He’ll be playing his normal position then. So it’s not as drastic of a change as you might think.

While he will likely get the opportunity to rush the quarterback from a two-point stance, it sounds like he may be used more often than not in Chicago’s nickel package as a hybrid defensive end/linebacker. Some concepts may change for Allen in the team’s new defense, but he could potentially thrive if given the chance to pin his ears back and go after the quarterback.

Just like Allen, Young will also be making the move to outside linebacker this offseason. He tore his Achilles against the Detroit Lions in late December, and there has been no official timetable set for his return.

Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune outlined the recovery time for an Achilles injury following Young’s setback in December.

“Recovery time after surgery for a torn Achilles is usually in the ballpark of four to six months, meaning Young’s rehabilitation, in a normal scenario, would push him toward being ready for the start of training camp in July,” wrote Wiederer.

If Young follows that timetable, he could potentially return to football in late June or July, but because of how many edge-rushers the team currently has, the Bears may try to ease Young back.

When he is healthy, he will also have to get used to the idea of playing in a two-point stance. He registered a career-high 10 sacks last season and was one of the few bright spots on Chicago’s defense in 2014. If Young is able to bounce back from his Achilles injury, he could be used similarly to Allen as a hybrid defensive end/linebacker this season.

McPhee, Houston, Allen and Young are all locks to be on the roster in 2015, but a strong showing from Bass in training camp and the preseason could help him land a roster spot. In 20 career games, he has registered 33 tackles, four sacks and one interception.

One name to keep an eye on this offseason is Acho. A fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2011, Acho started 10 games that season and registered 40 tackles and seven sacks. He started all 16 games in 2012 and finished with four sacks, but he broke his leg in 2013 and registered just two sacks between 2013 and 2014. 

He is an athletic linebacker who has played well against the run in his career, but he thinks he is more than just a run-stopper.

“Obviously, my ability to play out in space and cover and play the run, I’ve shown that on tape,” Acho said, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s one aspect of what I’ll be able to do, and also, get after the quarterback.”

Assuming the Bears keep McPhee, Houston, Allen, Young and either Bass or Acho, they have a chance to consistently put pressure on opposing quarterbacks if they continuously rotate their pass-rushers. Houston and McPhee will likely get the majority of the work, but Allen and Young could potentially have a big impact next season if they are coming into the game against worn-down offensive linemen.

The Bears may not have a top-level pass-rusher on their roster, but if they are able to create mismatches with their starters and rotate their situational pass-rushers, they have a chance be one of the league’s best at getting after the quarterback in 2015.

 

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