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Pressure Key for Chicago Bears Thursday and Going Forward

The Chicago Bears got a big win on the national stage by getting pressure. They also put a little on their critics.

The Chicago Bears got a big win on the national stage by getting pressure on Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. They also put a little on their critics who had (and may still have) very reasonable questions about this Bears team, particularly on offense. It was nice to see the defense finally get to the quarterback with regularity, too. What does it mean for the Bears going forward?

Pressure Key to Big Win in Primetime for Bears

Bears Defense Applies Pressure

Khalil Mack has had a deceptively dominant season. Most will key on him having just 1.5 sacks entering Week 5 but don’t miss the forest for the trees. Mack is sixth in ESPN‘s Pass Rush Win Rate and first in Run Stop Win Rate among EDGE defenders. Brady came in enjoying some of the best protection he’s gotten in recent years but Mack got to him two times himself and was around plenty more times while shutting down the run. He also showed a little brute strength.

Mack came in determined to be better than last season and he has. But we can’t ignore the impact his teammates have had on him this season. Akiem Hicks, who is tied with Mack for the team-lead in pressures with 11, being healthy again has been huge. Robert Quinn hasn’t been a full-time player just yet; much to the chagrin of fans trying to square that with his contract. He posted the best Pass Rush Win Rate over the last two seasons but has been limited him to just 37% of the defensive snaps, though he played a season-high on Thursday.

Chicago is allowing a league-low 57.4 percent of passes thrown to be completed. Kyle Fuller and rookie Jaylon Johnson have both given up their fair share of big plays. The Bears have given up the fifth-most passing plays of 20+ yards, but Fuller and Johnson are playing solid on a play-to-play basis. Eddie Jackson has been close on a few plays but has come up short on big plays so far, while Tashaun Gipson has a pick. Both are allowing career-worst completion percentages. Still, the coverage on the outside has been stellar so far.

The Road Ahead

Chicago, now 4-1,  just overcame the top-ranked team in total DVOA, per Football Outsiders. They’ll head out on the road for their next two games, against the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, with a third road game against the Tennessee Titans before their bye week. With home games against the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings sprinkled in, finding their pass rush will be critical to the Bears success, especially as their offense still figures things out.

Four of those teams are top-15 in Total DVOA and two have top-10 rankings in Offensive DVOA. Three of them have allowed fewer than 10 sacks with Minnesota sitting right on that number. Football Outsiders also ranks the Rams, Saints, and Titans offensive lines in the top-10 in both pass protection and run blocking.

On the ground is actually where the concerns are for Chicago. They rank higher in Run Stop Win Rate (seventh) than Pass Rush Win Rate (18th), but just allowed Ronald Jones to cross the century mark, routinely allowing chunks on second and third down. If they don’t shore that up soon they’re in for a rude awakening. They’ll face some of the league’s top back Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry, and Dalvin Cook on the back-end of this stretch. That doesn’t include former Bear Mike Davis in Carolina and the Rams plethora of talented runners.

Pressure Bursts Pipes

Coaches feel pressure too so this had to be a nice game for defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. His unit has been criticized extensively for playing soft coverage and not blitzing enough. Fuller and Johnson are taking care of the former for their coach. As for blitzing, per Pro Football Reference the Bears are allowing a 69.7 completion percentage on blitzes. They’ve also allowed more yards per attempt (6.8) when blitzing than not (6.3) and have given up just as many touchdowns when blitzing as without.

Matt Nagy didn’t escape the pressure cooker. Video of Nick Foles getting animated with his head coach over going up-tempo has made the rounds on social media. Neither Nagy nor Foles looked angry, but the exchange could help spark the improvements and attention to details Nagy cited in his day-after presser. Chicago will now use the next 10 days to figure out the offense, sure. But they will also go back and see what keyed their defensive effort.

We can critique the Bears for only facing wounded opponents, a trend that will continue next week. But you can only play the teams on your schedule when you’re scheduled to play them. What’s more important is taking advantage of these types of opportunities and banking wins for later on in the season. It is likely the Bears will have some injury woes along the way so having the early wins provides a nice cushion if and when you drop one.

 

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