The Chicago Bears are fresh off a much-needed bye week.
After escaping Las Vegas with a narrow 25-24 victory over the Raiders, the Bears stand at 2-2 on the season.
By the time Chicago takes the field again, 14 days will have passed and several key players are likely to return to action. This includes CB Kyler Gordon, LB TJ Edwards, OT Darnell Wright, DE Austin Booker, TE Colston Loveland, and DT Grady Jarrett.
As the Bears return to action, it’s a great time to reflect on their season thus far and analyze what adjustments the team needs to make and how much of an impact each player will have in achieving these goals.
Bears Bullet Points Moving Forward
- Fix The Run Defense
- Find A Way To Generate Pressure
- Establish A Stronger Run Game
- Increase Target Share
- Capitalize Off Of Turnovers
- Improve ST
- Final Thoughts On The Bye
Fix The Bears Run Defense/Generate Pressure
The Chicago Bears have been gashed by opposing offenses on the ground.
In fact, the Bears are dead last in the league in terms of yards per carry allowed at an average of 6.2 YPC. In terms of total rushing yards allowed, the Bears rank 23rd at 658 rushing yards through four games.
That’s 164.5 rushing yards allowed per game. They have also allowed 6 rushing touchdowns on the year, second most in the league behind Miami who has played an extra game. Point being, the Bears run defense has been putrid and the defensive line has a significant amount of money allocated with little to no results.
The Bears were without Grady Jarrett against Las Vegas which played a factor in allowing Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty to have his breakout game.
However, he had been healthy in games prior and didn’t make too big of an impact.
A not so fun fact – The Bears are tied dead last for sack totals in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers at 5 on the year. They also are second to last in tackles at 232, just ahead of the Atlanta Falcons. The bye plays a big factor, but the point still stands.
Bears DC Dennis Allen needs to find a way to make the presence of Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo felt on the outside and further develop Gervon Dexter Sr. on the inside in terms of interior pressure. Running lanes should narrow in the weeks ahead with the return of LB TJ Edwards and nickel blitz packages should add a wrinkle with CB Kyler Gordon returning to the lineup.
I’m also in favor of mixing in DE Austin Booker into the edge room as he returns from injury reserve. There’s a lot of untapped potential in the former Kansas Jayhawk.
Establish A Stronger Run Game
To put it bluntly, Bears RB D’Andre Swift is not getting the job done. Currently, the Bears RB is averaging just 1.8 rushing yards before contact per attempt and 1.6 after contact per attempt. This is not just a Swift statistic, but an offensive line statistic. There needs to be better play up front.
With LT Braxton Jones being benched in favor of Theo Benedet and Darnell Wright returning from an elbow injury, we may see more of the outside zone run scheme in the Bears offense that better suits Swift’s ability in space.
I’m also a proponent of getting Kyle Monangai more involved if Ben Johnson believes the Bears can run more of a duo concept. I prefer Monangai in short yardage situations as well, as it seems Roschon Johnson has been relegated to nothing more than a special teams contributor on this team.
Increase Target Share
Through four games, QB Caleb Williams has improved from week to week. Despite a rocky start in Las Vegas, Williams played a better second half, going 10/16 for 115 passing yards and a touchdown pass to Rome Odunze.
The Year Two duo has been electric, as Odunze has caught 5 TDs and racked up 296 receiving yards through four games this season. For the offense to truly take off, however, more players need to become involved.
WR D.J. Moore through four games has commanded just a 16% target share, lower than that of Olamide Zaccheaus at 16.6%. TE Cole Kmet is also at just 12.2% and Bears rookie TE Colston Loveland, while injured, has garnered just a 4.6% target share.
Rome Odunze leads the Bears in targets with 35 targets and a 26.7% target share. It’s still relatively early in the year, but the offense needs more balance in the passing game if the Bears want continued success.
Capitalize Off of Turnovers/Improve ST
The Bears have forced nine turnovers through four weeks and scored 27 points off of those turnovers. At the very least this means Chicago is averaging 3 points off of turnovers, but that rate needs to improve.
Being able to capitalize on great field position and opponent mistakes is a key characteristic of being a contender. There are only so many drives and so many “bites at the apple” or even “bullets you can fire” as HC Ben Johnson has stated in past press conferences.
Conversely, the Bears need to improve their special teams coverage.
On opposing kickoff returns the Bears have allowed 25.8 yards per return (17th) and on opposing punt returns Chicago has allowed around 12.2 yards per return. No ranking for punt return average, but the Bears have allowed the 10th most yards on punt returns at 122, just behind New England and ahead of Arizona.
While seemingly middle of the pack in regard to special teams, there is always room for improvement.
Final Thoughts On Bears Bye Week
It’s recently been announced that DE Austin Booker has been designated to return from IR and his 21 day practice window has been opened. The young edge rusher should be given a chance to enter the starting rotation as a threat on third downs. He might provide a spark in a room that desperately needs it.
Outside of Booker, the return of CB Kyler Gordon and LB TJ Edwards should again provide much needed reinforcements to a defensive unit that has shown up when needed in the last two weeks.
The status of OT Darnell Wright remains uncertain, but he did not practice for the Bears on Tuesday. TE Colston Loveland and S Jaquan Brisker also didn’t practice, but no injury designation was mentioned for Brisker and it’s still early in the week. Another player to keep an eye on is DT Grady Jarrett.
The first injury report will likely release sometime on Thursday afternoon as the Bears prepare for a Monday Night Football matchup in Washington.
At 2-2 out of the bye week, Ben Johnson and the Bears look to shore things up with a favorable stretch of schedule ahead of them.
