A win is a win as they say, but this one was not so pretty. We did, however, catch a glimpse of a classic Chicago Bears team of old. On Sunday, the Bears' running game was phenomenal, while the passing game stuttered. However, the most crucial and impressive part of Sunday's win was the performance of Dennis Allen's new Monsters of the Midway.
After a somewhat sluggish start to the season, the Bears' defensive unit has been on a rampage, beefing up their statistical output and putting the team in positions to win.
In the first two weeks of the year, the Bears defense had managed just one takeaway; they had been burned for 765 total yards by opposing offenses, alongside 79 points allowed, which included 10 touchdowns. At that point, most Bears fans will tell you that they were worried, especially after the battering the unit received from the Detroit Lions in week 2.
Since then, the Bears have bounced back and have gone on to create 15 takeaways, including 10 interceptions and 5 forced fumble recoveries in the last four games.
Sunday afternoon against the Saints, however, was this defenses' best showing of the season.
Chicago recorded four takeaways, including picking off Spencer Rattler three times and forcing a fumble on a strip sack of the quarterback. They added four sacks total and allowed just 253 total yards, a season low for this defense.
Outside of two drives, late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter, the defense flat-out dominated.
"I think this game really started and finished there with our defense," Ben Johnson told the media after the game. "They just did a phenomenal job throughout. When you look at those critical numbers, there were 44 yards rushing. I saw four sacks and four turnovers. Credit to (Defensive Coordinator) Dennis Allen and his crew one more time. They're doing a great job getting us the ball on offense with great field position, and it certainly gives us a ton of momentum in games like that. They just did an awesome job."
It was no secret that with the Bears' offensive set-up being so new, between first year coaches, players additions, and implementing a brand new playbook and scheme, the team would likely need to lean on the defense until things get going.
While the defense struggled to live up to that role and expectation in the first quarter of the season, we are really seeing it come together now, and as Ben Johnson said, they are putting the offense in a great position on almost every defensive drive.
"I think they come in bunches, and these guys – we've got a method in place of how we want to practice it" Johnson continued. "Dennis does a great job with instilling that confidence in those guys, putting them in the right spot. When the ball touches their hands, they're coming down with it. We really don't have many drops on that side of the ball. They're very conscious of it when it's a running play to try to punch that ball and get it out. It's just really working for us right now, and really our team needs it. It's really been the foundation of this last four-game stretch for us."
Notable standouts on the defence this week have to begin with Tremaine Edmunds who was all over the field on Sunday with nine tackles, one interception and one sack. Edmunds is having one of his best seasons as a Bear, and the bounce back from last season's underwhelming outing can be attributed to what Dennis Allen and his assistants have managed to get out of Edmunds.
Montez Sweat also had his best game of the season so far, recording 4 tackles and 1 strip sack. Much has been made about Sweat's contribution to the team relative to what was given up for him as well as his whopping yearly salary.
Jaquan Brisker was also excellent yesterday. He picked up a sack and was an absolute menace on that defense. Arguably, he should have had another strip sack when he ran through Spencer Rattler on a third-and-28 play, only for the officials to call it roughing the passer.
Despite some struggles early on in the season, the defense is really starting to gel together. The return of TJ Edwards and Kyler Gordon has helped, especially in the run game.
The Bears gave up just 44 yards on the ground on Sunday, which is remarkable considering that they had given up an average of 156.4 rushing yards per game before Sunday. They had bounced back somewhat last week against the Commanders after the Raiders were able to put 240 rushing yards on them the week prior, but this week they took that next step.
"I think our guys did a really good job going out and executing the plan, and really, run defense is not as complicated as a lot of people might think it is" Allen told the media pregame on Thursday. "It gets down to really fundamentals. It gets down to being able to strike blocks, being able to get off a block, linebackers coming downhill, secondary guys getting off blocks, and keeping the ball inside. All those kinds of things are important, so it really was more about us playing with our fundamentals and our technique. I thought our guys did a good job of that last week."
For me, the biggest catalyst to the significant improvements that we have seen in the past two weeks has been that crucial early bye week. Dennis Allen and his defensive coaches have clearly used that time wisely, to review, to reflect, and to make adjustments where required. I also reckon that the embarrassment that was that game in Detroit will, in the long term, prove to be useful for this team.
Clearly, the overarching theme here is improved coaching.
The next test for this defense comes in Week 8 when they face the Baltimore Ravens on the road. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is expected to return to face the Bears as he's been dealing with a hamstring injury. The Ravens offense without him has struggled, scoring just 13 total points in two games. They will also face running back Derrick Henry, who has struggled the past few weeks.
But if Chicago's defense can continue to play at a high level, the wins should continue to stack up.