1. The Chicago Bears defense harass opposing quarterbacks again
In 2018, the Chicago Bears acquired the great Khalil Mack. In addition, they drafted another in the long line of great linebackers in Roquan Smith. With those additions, and with the terrific players they already had, the defense became one of the most dominant units over the past decade.
Since then, the defense suffered through some regression. After recording 50 sacks and 47 turnovers in 2018, the Bears only had 35 and 32, respectively.
The defense had trouble getting to the quarterback. After not having much help from Leonard Floyd on the other side, the Bears signed former All-Pro Robert Quinn to help. He had one of the worst seasons of his career, however, and Mack again faced double and triple teams on a constant basis.
After overseeing two defensive units that kept regressing, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano retired. In his place, the Bears hired their secondary coach, Sean Desai. Desai was Vic Fangio’s right-hand man in 2018 when the defense was at its height of excellence.
Fangio’s defense was aggressive and he did a great job of putting his players in a winning situation. Desai wants to return to that. He understands Fangio’s system and what he wanted out of this defense and will do the same.
In addition to Desai, the Bears went out and signed Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones, and Jeremiah Attaochu to the linebackers unit. With Danny Trevathan and Robert Quinn dealing with age and injury, the team hopes that the signings add good depth. Ogletree will start the season as the starter since Trevathan will miss the first six games of the season. Additionally, Attaochu will split a lot of snaps with Quinn so Quinn can stay fresh throughout the season. Trevis Gipson is in his second season and is showing that he could take over at outside linebacker in the future.
On the defensive line, Eddie Goldman is back. He oped out of the 2020 season. His absence really hurt the defense’s rush defense. Behind him, the Bears have rookie Khyiris Tonga. Tonga had a fantastic training camp and it translated to the preseason games. He did a great job of taking up space and stopping ball carriers on the spot. We could be seeing Goldman’s replacement.
There is a question at cornerback. Kyle Fuller is gone and now Jaylon Johnson is CB1. Kindle Vildor beat out Desmond Trufant for the CB2 spot. They also have Artie Burns, Duke Shelley, and Xavier Crawford. It’s a bit thin but the additional pressure from the front seven could help the cornerbacks.
At safety, Tashaun Gipson just wants to continue his consistently good play. At free safety, Eddie Jackson wants to make up for a difficult 2020. He looks to return to his All-Pro form.
This defense will look to put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. If they force them to throw before they want, they’ll increase their turnovers. Also, they should get to the quarterback better than in the last two seasons.
Prediction: The defense finishes in the top ten in interceptions with 15. The unit finishes second in sacks with 52.