Chicago Bears: Returning Eddie Goldman key to defense in 2021

The Chicago Bears experienced how important defensive tackle Eddie Goldman was to the defense after he opted out in 2020. Now that he’s back, he’ll be a big part of the team’s success in 2021.

One of the biggest concerns for the Chicago Bears coming out of the 2020 season was the step back the defense took. This was a unit that just two short seasons before ranked as one of the top defensive units of the 2010s.

In 2018, that Bears defense ranked first in points allowed, total turnovers, first downs allowed, interceptions, passing yards allowed, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns allowed. This was an amazingly dominant defense.

The unit fell a little in 2019 but still was a top-five defense.

Then, in 2020, the Monsters of the Midway suddenly looked average. Sure, they had their moments of dominance (look at what they did to Tom Brady and the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for example).

The unit finished 14th in points allowed, 25th in total turnovers, 12th in passing yards allowed, 23rd in interceptions, and 15th in rushing yards (the lowest rank since 2016 when they only won three games). This was a defense completely that looked nothing like what we were used to seeing from Chicago.

Yes, part of the reason was a change in defensive coordinator. After 2018, Vic Fangio decided to leave to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos. Chuck Pagano took over, but he wasn’t able to build upon or even maintain the defensive success enjoyed under Fangio.

Pagano retired after last season and Sean Desai, Fangio’s right-hand man when he was in Chicago, took over. We’ll see a more aggressive defense with Desai.

Another big reason for the fall was the absence of defensive lineman Eddie Goldman. Goldman decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic. Bilal Nichols took over in his place.

With Nichols, the defense had to go through some growing pains. He didn’t have a bad season. In fact, he had 5 sacks, more than the number of sacks Goldman had in any season.

Nichols didn’t have the same impact as Goldman, however. Goldman took up a lot of the opposing team’s attention. Goldman was the Bears’ top run-stuffer and it took a few bodies to try to move him. Because of that, not many teams really tried to run the ball against the Bears. With Goldman and Hicks on the line, the Bears defense allowed 40 rushing yards less than when they weren’t together.

With Goldman taking double teams, the linebackers’ lives were much easier. Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan could roam and seal off other running lanes, giving opposing running backs no hole to hit.

Additionally, Goldman dealing with double teams freed up space for other defensive players. The defensive ends and outside linebackers could rush the quarterback with more space. That put a lot more pressure on those quarterbacks. They ended up having to throw the ball before they wanted, increasing the opportunities for the secondary to force turnovers.

Now Goldman is back. While some people might worry about him taking a season off, unless he spent the entire year sitting on the sofa and eating bonbons he should be fine. In fact, the year off probably helped his body recover from the years of pounding it took. He probably hadn’t had that time off since he was a child and should now be refreshed and ready to go.

New defensive line coach Chris Rumph is excited to work with Goldman. He feels Goldman can pick up and continue his good play, per SI.com:

"Hopefully with Eddie Goldman it’s like riding a bike. He’ll just pick it back up and start pedaling again. He probably won’t be able to pop any wheelies right now, but eventually he will be able to pop some wheelies. So I’m just excited to get him back in the building."

Having a healthy and recharged Goldman is key for this defense’s success. If he picks up where he left off, we’ll see the turnovers increase again. Combine that with the improvement we expect from the offense and this could be a dangerous team in 2021.