The Chicago Bears Struggles on Defense but Strong on Offense

[ChitownGetEm23]

The 2013 Chicago Bears have surprised many fans this year in a good and a bad way. On one hand you have an offense that has the statistical best wide receiver tandem in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. You also have Matt Forte who has played consistently good throughout his whole career and is an extremely versatile running back who can catch the ball as well as any wide receiver in the NFL. In addition, for the first time in years the Bears offensive line is a force to be reckoned with and have kept Bears quarterbacks clean for the most part thanks to the additions of Matt Slauson, Jermon Bushrod, rookie Kyle Long, and rookie Jordan Mills. Martellus Bennett has been a great addition as well and has shown to have great ability to stretch the field and has done a great job blocking in the run game. Earl Bennett’s number hasn’t been called much this year minus a long touchdown pass in week 3 against the Steelers but he has performed when called upon. The Bears offense, for the first time, isn’t the issue currently haunting the Bears and their fans; but its defense that’s causing ulcers in the stomach of Bear coaches and fans. For the first time in Bears history they could have a tandem of wide receivers’ that surpass the 1,000 yard mark, and that’s impressive. One thing is certain for the Bears offense, it doesn’t matter who you throw behind center the Bears are going to score points.
Now time for the bad, ugly, and sometimes dismal defense the Bears have put on the field in 2013. Losing Henry Melton and Nate Collins for the season was a big blow to the defensive line as its apparent that they are missing Melton with the lack there of pressure the Bears get on opposing quarterbacks and running backs. Also, the Bears can’t seem to stop a run up the middle another testament to them missing Melton. The loss of Lance Briggs and DJ Williams has been apparent as it’s seemly easy for any offense to pass across the middle against the Bears vanilla Tampa 2 Cover Zone they play. Now adding the loss of Charles Tillman, more than likely for the season, who do the Bears look to for leadership? Julius Peppers you say? I would have agreed with that statement two years ago but this year Peppers has been a shadow of the defensive end he once was and with his 15 million dollar pay check this year it makes you question his drive to play. Do the Bears look to rookie Jonthan Bostic for answers? My answer to that is no, even though Bostic has an extremely high upside, Brian Urlacher himself couldn’t have come in his rookie year and took over an aged defense. The Bears defense is currently ranked 26th overall, 23rd in passing yards allowed, and 31st in rushing yards allowed. Are you kidding me 23rd and 31st?? That is simply embarrassing for a team that prides itself on its defensive prowess.
At the beginning of the season Lance Briggs had said defensive coordinator Mel Tucker didn’t change their defense and his reasoning was, “why fix what’s not broken?” Well Lance I hate to break it to you but something is definitely broken. I honestly believe it to be age finally catching up to a very aged Bears defense. There really isn’t any solution the Bears can implement this year, however, moving forward the Bears may look into dumping Peppers and I highly doubt Tillman will be back in a Bears jersey next year. I believe for the Bears to survive the rest of the year defensively they are going to have to bend not break. No more allowing long touchdown drives, they will have to force more field goals, as their offense has proven to be running like a well-oiled machine.
Now let’s talk about a very interesting topic in regards to Jay Cutler and his contract extension. Before this year I would have said to go ahead and extend Cutlers contract, but now I am not completely sure. The Bears offense seems to have converted to a systematic offense that allows quarterbacks time in the pocket to look down field and find the Bears large receivers’. With the resurgence of Josh McCown, due to Cutler’s injuries, has proven the Bears may not need a superstar quarterback to be successful. Let’s look at the pros to Cutlers game, he has a strong arm, mobility is a plus, and has a great deal of confidence that he can make plays. Now the cons are he takes too many risks throwing the ball, very much injury prone the past 3 years, manhood is a question, and has thrown temper tantrums on several different occasions. Can you realistically pay Jay Cutler a max contract when he has played well at times but bad at others? My answer to that is a definite no, unless something miraculously changes with Cutlers game, which I don’t see happening. Josh McCown has proved one thing that even a QB who has rode the bench for the past several years can step in to the Bears offense and have success. Which leads to the question of who is the Bears future quarterback? Will we draft a quarterback? Free agency isn’t an option as no big name quarterbacks are to have expiring contracts besides Ben Rothlisberger and I doubt the Steelers let him walk.
My ending prediction is an 11-6 ending to the Bears season; they make the playoffs as a wild card in an extremely competitive NFC, but will lose in the first round. It would be unrealistic to think a Bears team with a vanilla defense would be contenders for the Super Bowl when you got great defensive teams like the Cardinals, Panthers, Saints, Seahawks, Lions, and 49ers in the NFC. The Bears may have the 3 ranked overall offense when it comes to points but defense still wins championships and as of now the Bears defense has yet to be seen.

Jon Argoudelis