Chicago Bears: 3 Storylines to follow in 2019 training camp
Can Chuck Pagano continue the work Vic Fangio did with the defense?
Former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio did a great job rebuilding the Chicago Bears’ defense. In 2015, he took over a defense that ranked 31st in points allowed and 30th in total yards. Under his tutelage, the unit improved to the point of being a top-ten defense in 2017. Then, in 2018, that defense hit the stratosphere. The Bears defense ranked first in points allowed and third in total yards.
They also led the league in turnovers and just shut down the running game. It wasn’t until Week 9 that they gave up a rushing touchdown. For the regular season, they only gave up a total of five rushing touchdowns.
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Then, Fangio decided he needed to be a head coach. He bolted Chicago for the Denver Broncos. In his place, the Bears hired former Baltimore defensive coordinator and Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano. Pagano is a year removed from coaching. He felt refreshed and decided to come back to coaching. He hit the jackpot by inheriting the most dominant defense in the NFL.
Pagano says he doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel. He has a great defense on his hands so he just wants to fine tune a few things to try to make it even better.
One of those fine tunes should be the defense’s aggressiveness. To the fans’ chagrin, Fangio dropped his best rushers, Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd, back into coverage too much. Pagano, on the other hand, is more aggressive. I see him going after the quarterback more.
Some might say that being more aggressive means putting more pressure on the secondary but the Bears have ball hawks back there. The secondary totaled 21 interceptions in 2018. Newcomers Buster Skrine and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix have 23 career interceptions, so I think they could handle things. Besides, opposing quarterbacks might not have enough time to get throws off the way they want when they’re running around for their lives.
Pagano has experience coaching great defensive players. In Baltimore, he had Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Lardarius Webb, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata on his defense. That defense ranked third in both points and yards allowed and the team made it to the AFC Championship. Pagano won’t be intimidated coaching excellence. He should do a great job and disappoint those who feel the defense takes a step back.