What’s Wrong with the Chicago Bears’ Defense? Perhaps Nothing
Published by Bryan Dietzler on July 8, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
A lot of fingers have been pointed at the Bears defense, and for good reason. Last year they had a lot of problems stopping the run, stopping the pass, and stopping teams from converting third downs into first downs. Bringing back a lot of the same personnel and keeping pretty much the same defensive coaching staff may not make it seem like a major overhaul, but the secret to what is going to fix the Bears defense isn’t in what they kept; it’s what they brought in.
There were three key things that the Bears did to help improve their defense this offseason. The first and the most obvious was the signing of former Carolina Panther’s defensive end Julius Peppers. Although Peppers has played hot and cold at times and he just signed a big contract, expect him to live up to the hype and be the best defensive end in the NFC North and quite possibly the best in the NFC. Jared Allen is better you may say? Not anymore thanks to Peppers arrival.
Peppers will change the Bear’s ability to get to the passer and that’s where it all begins when you think about defense. Getting effective pass pressure opens up a lot of doors for the defense. For one, it makes it so the secondary doesn’t have to cover the opposing team’s receivers that long, therefore minimizing mistakes that can be made there (long pass completions or pass completions on third down). It can also help mask deficiencies in the secondary.
Having a good pass rush will also help the Bears out in the defending against the run because it will make the opposing offense more predictable and thus easier to stop. Having Peppers on the line will also create mismatches for opposing offenses as it can be assured that opposing offenses are going to double team Peppers on a consistent basis, and this will leave someone else open (on the defensive line) to make plays. Could this finally be the piece to a large puzzle that might get defensive tackle Tommie Harris back to his old self? Let’s hope so.
So the signing of Peppers is indeed something that will help make the Bears’ defense much better than it was in 2009. Just imagine what the Bears can do with a pass rush.
At the linebacker position, the Bears will hope that they can keep their starters healthy throughout the season after having to mix things up last year due to injuries. Back again is middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Urlacher missed almost the entire season in 2009 thanks to a wrist injury, and he’s fully healed and ready to go. Pisa Tinoisamoa is also back and ready to go giving the Bears some stability at all linebacker positions in 2010.
The key to good linebacker play for the Bears this season will be health. Both Urlacher and Tinoisamoa, among others, need to stay healthy in order for the Bears to get effective play out of their linebackers.
The secondary may be a bit more of a question mark than any other part of the Bears defense going into the 2010 season. The cornerback position is fairly solid. Charles Tillman returns for another season with the Bears, and if he can stay healthy then the Bears should have that position locked up for 2010. Zachary Bowman will compete with free agent acquisition Tim Jennings for the spot opposite Tillman, and all indications right now point to the fact that there could be a good battle for that spot in training camp.
The safety position is a little bit tougher to predict. The Bears have a lot of talent there but not necessarily good talent They drafted Major Wright and he looks like he could end up being one of the starters, but who will be the other? That is something that we will find out soon in training camp.
Another thing that will help the Bears on defense this season will be that head coach Lovie Smith is relinquishing his duties as defensive coordinator and handing them over to Rod Marinelli. Smith called the defense in 2009 and we all know how that turned out, so now with the role of defense coordinator being filled by someone who just has to worry about the defense, things should be much better for the Bears in 2009.
So what makes some people think that the Bears’ defense will see success in 2010? As previously mentioned, the addition of a pass rushing element will help as will getting their key players at the linebacker position back. Having a dedicated defensive coordinator, one that can take all of his time and dedicate it to the defense, will also help out immensely.
The Bears have a great tradition of defense, and hopefully they will be able to get back to that great tradition this year and have the defense that they need to help them get into the playoffs. If that unit falters again like it did in 2009, we could see wholesale changes all over the place from the coaching staff on down to the players. Let’s hope it’s a good year on defense for the Bears.
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