For a team that depends on its defense for survival as much as the Bears do, any warning signs are full-blown alarms. If this defense isn’t what it was the last two seasons, the Bears are in real trouble even at 3-0.
There was concern when the lowly Lions romped to a 23-6 lead in the third quarter of the opener, and again the next week when the Giants went on a 95-yard touchdown drive in the fourth to pull within one score.
The tension rose a notch Sunday in Atlanta, when the Bears allowed a season-high 437 yards and trailed 26-10 in the third. It was the third consecutive week an opposing running back did as he pleased, with Todd Gurley getting 5.7 yards per carry.
The Bears escaped all three games with a victory, and their defense still ranks ninth in fewest points allowed. But there have been enough lapses to wonder whether the group will straighten itself out like it always has or if something more problematic is surfacing.
The Colts, with new quarterback Philip Rivers, are one of the better offenses the Bears will have faced when they meet Sunday at Soldier Field. They are 13th at 28 points and 384 yards per game, with more success in the passing game than on the ground.
So Nagy better be sure about defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano fixing this.
“I really do like where our defense is at right now,” he said. “Two out of the three games, we’ve been affecting the quarterback. So I think we definitely can get better, but I like where we’re at.”
The Bears have made life miserable for quarterbacks, and that’s the most promising part of the defensive performance. The Bears built their team around a pass rush of Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks, and the early results are excellent.
While the Bears are just 11th in sacks with seven (six from the aforementioned trio), their overwhelming pressure has held opponents to the lowest completion percentage (56.7) in the NFL. They’re also fourth in fewest yards allowed per pass (6.5), second in opponent passer rating (71.4) and third in third-down stops (31% converted).
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed just 3 of 9 passes on third downs and was sacked twice. At times, it seemed smarter to just kick or punt on third down rather than risk whatever mayhem Mack, Quinn and Hicks might cause.
It actually looked like the Falcons were thinking along those lines in the second quarter, when they ran on third-and-5 at the Bears’ 35-yard line. In all likelihood, the plan was to safely pick up a couple yards and take the field goal.
But that’s when the Bears’ run defense deficiency glared, and running back Brian Hill raced 35 yards for a touchdown. He burst through a huge hole at the line, zipped through a crowd at the next level and outran safety Tashaun Gipson and cornerback Kyle Fuller to the end zone.
The Bears were in all-out pressure expecting a pass and couldn’t course correct.
“They broke a tendency there from a run-pass standpoint ... and they hit us on it,” inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said. “At the end of the day, we’ve gotta get the guy down there.”
No defense is perfect, but the Bears have tilted closer to good than great so far, and many of the questions they had coming into the season linger.
At inside linebacker, can Roquan Smith be steady and can Danny Trevathan stretch his prime just a little bit longer? Is the safety playing opposite Eddie Jackson truly interchangeable? Can a front seven built for the pass rush stop the run and adjust when a team pulls something like the Falcons did on third-and-5?
The last two seasons, the Bears had every answer. And they might have them eventually, but they don’t at the moment.
