Pernell McPhee Is Quickly Becoming the New Face of the Chicago Bears Defense
Published by Matt Eurich on October 5, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Outside linebacker Pernell McPhee has played just four games for the Chicago Bears, but he is quickly becoming the new face of the team’s defense.
When the Bears signed McPhee to a five-year contract this offseason, he said he wanted to help the Bears get back to what they used to be on defense.
“I wanted to come and be a part of bringing that tradition back,” McPhee said, per ChicagoBears.com’s Larry Mayer. “You know; a hard-nosed playing defense, play with violence, play with an attitude, play with a swag—just go out there and [dominate] the game.”
When general manager Ryan Pace signed McPhee back in March, he knew he signed a special player who could add something against both the pass and run.
“First of all, he’s disruptive,” Pace said, per Mayer. “He hits the quarterback a ton. I think he’s an ascending player. I like the violence that he plays with. He’s got length, gets off blocks. I think he’s a well-rounded player, too. He’s a productive pass-rusher but also a steady, consistent run defender.”
In his first start at outside linebacker for the Bears in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, McPhee finished the game with six tackles, but he recorded just three quarterback hurries and finished the game with a minus-0.5 overall grade.
He flashed at times against the Packers but was held in check for much of the afternoon. After his slow start in Week 1, he showed improvement in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals.
McPhee finished Chicago’s Week 2 matchup versus the Cardinals with just three tackles, but he was credited with three quarterback hits, four quarterback hurries and a plus-5.2 overall grade. Even though he graded out well against Arizona, he did miss an opportunity to sack Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, per CSNChicago.com’s John Mullin:
The young outside linebacker played well against the Cardinals, but he stepped up his game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3 by recording seven tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss. McPhee was also credited with two quarterback hits and four quarterback hurries.
“Some of that dog started coming out [in Seattle],” McPhee said, per Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. “You could see in some of them plays [that] we were playing with an attitude, we were playing with a swag, and all that goes to show that it’s coming along. The defense is starting to play together.”
In Week 4 against the Oakland Raiders, McPhee once again put up good numbers against a strong offense. He finished the game with eight tackles, one tackle for loss and his first career interception.
Oakland quarterback Derek Carr tried to hit running back Latavius Murray on a screen pass, but McPhee met Murray just as the ball got there and came away with the interception.
“I am on a mission,” McPhee said after the team’s victory over Oakland, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “That is my emotion. Playoffs. Win. Turn it around.”
In addition to being a force on the field, McPhee has seemingly taken over as one of the leaders of the team in the locker room, and he received praise from Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei on Monday for what he does both on and off the field:
According to Jahns, McPhee spoke to his teammates at the team hotel on Saturday night about playing for one another, and he asked his teammates to lock arms while he spoke.
“He said, ‘If you’re not going play with the guy beside you, unlock your arms,’” defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins said, per Jahns. “That really hit home with a lot of us.”
McPhee went even further, asking his teammates to get to know one another in the locker room.
“He made a comment like, ‘I bet everybody doesn’t know everybody’s name. That’s what’s wrong with us. We got to change that,’’ Jenkins said, per Jahns.
Not only was McPhee able to inspire his teammates the night before the game, he also backed up his talk with his strong performance on Sunday. Even though he was unable to record a sack, he was dominant at times against the run.
Aside from his interception earlier in the game, McPhee‘s biggest play came late in the fourth quarter when the Raiders were charging down the field. Oakland was faced with a 3rd-and-2 situation, and McPhee lined up against the strong side of the formation:
McPhee got a terrific jump off the ball and pushed tight end Clive Walford back before Carr could hand the football off to running back Roy Helu:
McPhee met Helu in the backfield and tackled the veteran running back for a one-yard loss:
McPhee later said he knew what the Raiders were going to run in that situation because of what he saw on film earlier in the week.
“It was just me watching film and seeing that play coming,” McPhee said, per Jahns. “I knew the exact play they were going to run.”
After the game, McPhee received praise from a handful of teammates, including running back Matt Forte.
“It’s actually rare a lot of times that you see on teams that guys can actually come together,” Forte said, per ChicagoFootball.com’s Nate Atkins. “People definitely took [McPhee’s speech] to heart and listened to what he was saying, and that’s why he’s one of our team captains out there.”
He also received praise from teammate and former Pro Bowler Kyle Long on Twitter:
Chicago was lucky to have guys like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman as the faces of its defense in the mid-2000s under former head coach Lovie Smith, but with that era of football in the past, McPhee is quickly becoming Chicago’s new face on defense.
He gives maximum effort on the field, he’s been one of the team’s best at stopping the run and applying pressure to the quarterback, and he has already earned the respect of many of his teammates in the locker room.
If McPhee continues to produce both on and off the field like he has just four games into his Bears career, he has a chance to be the face of Chicago’s defense for years to come.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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