Why Bears’ Odd Approach To Rebuilding The Defense Is 100% On Purpose
Some people remain perplexed about the way GM Ryan Poles went about bolstering this Chicago Bears defense this off-season. Under conventional wisdom, one would focus on fortifying the pass rush while improving the coverage unit. It’s a quarterback-driven league, after all. Yet Poles went a different route. He spent big on upgrading the linebacker position with Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. Then he looked to add more beef up front. The arrivals of DeMarcus Walker, Andrew Billings, and Gervon Dexter made the Bears bigger and stronger at the line of scrimmage.
Once the dust settled, the intentions were clear. Poles focused on bolstering the team’s run defense. This isn’t a huge shock. Chicago was second-to-last in 2022 against the run. Still, one would think he’d worry about that after he secured pass rush help. It goes against common football logic. Or does it? There might be a reason coaches, even today, say the essence of football is still to stop the run. Here are the ten best run defenses from last season.
- Tennessee Titans
- San Francisco 49ers*
- Baltimore Ravens*
- Buffalo Bills*
- Cincinnati Bengals*
- Miami Dolphins*
- New England Patriots
- Kansas City Chiefs*
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Denver Broncos
Six of those ten teams made the playoffs. Pittsburgh had a winning record. This proves that stopping the run is still very important to team success. Matt Eberflus knows this well. During his four years in Indianapolis, his defense finished top 10 against the run every season. The Colts had three winning records and made the playoffs twice. Fascinating since their pass defenses ranked 16th, 23rd, 20th, and 19th.
The Chicago Bears know exactly what they’re doing.
Yes, winning in the playoffs is hard without a good pass rush. Nobody disputes this. Not even Poles and Eberflus. However, the quickest way to lose games from a defensive perspective is not stopping the run. That opens a team to getting play actioned to death. It’s what happened to them last year. It’s not a coincidence that two of the Bears’ three best run defense performances resulted in wins against Houston and New England. The other two that finished below 100 yards allowed were narrow losses to Detroit and Miami.
Making themselves harder to run against limits the options an opponent can take. Sure, the Chicago Bears’ pass defense won’t be great without a consistent pass rusher. However, it’s important to remember they won’t be playing Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers every week. Some of these quarterbacks they face in 2023 won’t be able to take full advantage of such a situation. Poles knew upgrading the run defense would be easier in the short term, so that is the route he took. It could prove to be a smart one.