By: Dylan Clemons

Football is back and I couldn’t be any more excited for the start of the season. The Bears are 1-1 in the preseason, winning the opener against the Miami Dolphins 20-13. Then getting smoked by the Mitchell Trubisky led Buffalo Bills 41-15, in which the Bears offense was stagnant all afternoon.

In Week 1 against the Dolphins the first team offense didn’t quite get going. Andy Dalton only played two series and finished the day 2-4 for 18 yards. Starting running back David Montgomery limped off the field after one carry, but his injury doesn’t seem to be too serious.

The man of the day was Justin Fields. He came in and looked awesome, the way he navigates the pocket, and move the chains with his legs is just an absolute game-changer. Fields was 14-20 on the day and threw a 30 yard touchdown to Jesse James, and also ran for a touchdown on an 8 yard scramble. The Defense settled in after giving up two drives that resulted in field goals. Deandre Houston-Carson intercepted Tua Tagovailoa in the end zone to end Tua’s day. That’s something the Bears have been preaching for the defense is forcing more turnovers.

Week 2 was the same story for the first-team offense as it struggled with Andy Dalton under center once again. Numbers-wise it doesn’t look that bad, he was 11-17 for 146 yards with one touchdown and one interception. However the Bears offense could never get into a rhythm with Dalton at the helm. Fields also struggled when he entered the game after halftime. He showed a few flashes, but the two quarterbacks where both dealing with pressure all day long from the Bills front seven, being sacked four times.

The Mitchell Trubisky revenge game was in full force on Saturday. He tore up the Bears defense, going 20-28 for 221 yards and one touchdown in the first half. The Bears defense did not play well by any means. The receivers where able to get separation from the Bears defenders whenever they wanted, Jake Kumerow beat Jaylon Johnson on a 4 yard in route for a touchdown. The Bears defenders were also missing tackles all day long, and quite frankly just couldn’t get stops. Those things need to be cleaned up fast, in order for the Bears to succeed this season.

Offensive Line Problems

It was announced earlier this week that 2nd round rookie left tackle Teven Jenkins was out for most of the season after undergoing back surgery. That is big news considering the Bears were going to slide him into the left tackle position, after letting go veteran Charles Leno in the offseason. They signed 39-year-old Jason Peters to try and put a band-aid on things, but he has yet to play in a game this preseason.

25-year-old Elijah Wilkerson started at left tackle against the Dolphins, and that’s who I expect to start the season there as well. The 5th year veteran has 26 career starts on the right side of the line, mostly at right tackle. The Right tackle position is in bad shape as well. Germain Ifedi, who was going to be the starting at right tackle is on the PUP list with a hip flexor. So that leaves the door open for rookies Lachavious Simmons, and Larry Borom to possibly start there in the season opener if Ifedi can’t get healthy.

Whoever the starting five offensive linemen are, they are going to have to protect the quarterback better than what they did against the Bills. The offensive line allowed four sacks and allowed a huge hit to franchise quarterback Justin Fields that knocked his helmet off. Fields got up and were ok, but it was still a scary sight to see. The offensive line will have to play much better in order for the Bears to have success this season.

Offensive Struggles

Through the first two preseason games, the Chicago Bears first-team offense has struggled to get going with Andy Dalton at the Helm. Dalton has played in nine series this preseason, and the offense has only managed to pick up four first downs, and have one scoring drive. His touchdown came on a huge play by wide receiver Rodney Adams on a solid throw by Dalton that went for a 73-yard score against the Bills. Rodney Adams has been a pleasant surprise this preseason, he has caught seven of his 12 targets for 146 yards and one touchdown.

The fans in Chicago have already fallen in love with rookie sensation Justin Fields. How could you not though? When Fields came into Miami, the offense struggled a bit, going three and out on his first three possessions. But after that, something clicked and the Bears scored on their next two possessions. Once By fields extending a play with his feet and scoring from eight yards out. Then the second scoring play was a 30-yard passing touchdown to a wide-open Jesse James, on a beautifully drawn-up play by Head Coach Matt Nagy. Fields ended that game going 14-20 for 142 yards and two total touchdowns.

Fields had a much tougher time against the Bills defense, being pressured all day long. However, he still showed flashes of what he can do. His ability to extend plays with his feet at an elite level as he has shown through two games could come in handy for a team with an offensive line that struggles to protect their quarterback. That is something Andy Dalton can’t do. However, Bears fans will have to wait to see their future quarterback. Matt Nagy was quoted after the game saying “We have to see Dalton in a regular-season game”. I tend to disagree with Nagy, I believe Fields gives you the best chance to win right now.

Defense Has Been Up And Down

This Bears team will only go as far as this defense will take them, as they are still the strength of the team. They have had an up and down preseason so far. The defense has forced four turnovers in the two games and has gotten to the quarterback for seven sacks.

After a solid performance against the Dolphins, the Bears defense really struggled to stop the Bills offense led by Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears secondary was considered to be the biggest weakness on the defense coming into the season, and it showed against the Bills. They missed quite a few tackles and gave up some big plays to not-so-well-known wide receivers. That unit is very young and will need to play better in order for the Bears to get to where they want to go this season. Right now there is no clear front runner at the slot corner position yet, both Duke Shelly and Kindle Vildor have flashed, but neither has stood out.

Another quick thing that concerns me is the health of Robert Quinn. He has struggled with health since signing a five-year 70 million dollar deal with the Bears last offseason. He only totaled two sacks in his first season with the Bears. He also had a play that stuck out to me against the Bills. It was a fourth down and one and the Bills pitched to Devin Singletary Quinn had great content, and Singletary juked once and put Quinn on the ground and scored from 14 yards out. A healthier Robert Quinn from two seasons ago, makes that play. That signing looks like a disaster for Ryan Pace and the Bears, hopefully, as a Bears fan, he proves me wrong.

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By: Dylan Clemons

The Chicago Bears are best known to be a defensive-minded football team. Ever since their 1985 super bowl team that some say is the best defense of all time. Times haven’t changed now, the defense is still the heart and soul of this team. Matt Nagy came to the Bears as an offensive-minded head coach, but it has been his defense that has carried him his three seasons. In his three seasons as head coach the Bears defense has ranked, 1st, 4th, and 14th in points allowed.

The Bears defense has definitely taken a step back from being the best defense in football in 2018. But still have a solid group, that hopes to return as a top-ten defense once again. The first thing that new defensive coordinator Sean Desai needs to address is trying to find a way to create more turnovers. The Bears ranked 26th in the NFL in takeaways last season with only 18. That’s a far cry from 2018 when they led the league in takeaways with 36.

Sean Desai has been with the organization since 2013 and has worked his way up through the ranks. after spending the last two seasons as the safeties coach, he has been promoted this off-season to replace Chuck Pagano who retired. Now let’s jump into three of his key players who I believe are the most important for the Bears defense to succeed.

The Bears Need Eddie Jackson To Return To Pro Bowl Form

Eddie Jackson, Safety

Eddie Jackson is probably the most impressive draft pick by GM Ryan Pace. Jackson slid in the 2017 draft and the Bears were able to take him in the fourth round after breaking his leg in his final college season. The year Jackson really made his name in the NFL was in 2018, when he made his first Pro Bowl appearance. That season he returned two interceptions for touchdowns and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. He was the definition of a big play waiting to happen on defense.

Unfortunately the last two seasons Jackson has regressed. I don’t believe that all has to do with him as a player, I think it had a lot to do with how Chuck Pagano was using Jackson. Pagano coached a much less aggressive defense than Vic Fangio did when Jackson thrived. I feel with Desai being Jackson’s safety coach for the last few seasons, he will know where to put Jackson on the field where he and the team will have the most success.

The Bears secondary is looking a little different nowadays after the departure of Kyle Fuller, a lot younger in fact. So the secondary will look to Eddie Jackson for that veteran support, and I believe he will deliver this season. There has also been talking this off-season that Jackson might play some at the slot corner position, with the Bears being thin at that position. If Desai believes that will put Jackson in the best possible spot to make plays, I’m all for it.

Jaylon Johnson, Cornerback

There is a ton of pressure on second-year cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who also struggled to stay healthy only playing in 13 games due to a shoulder injury. But when Johnson was on the field, he was very solid. According to PFF Johnson ranked 6th in incompletion rate at 21%. Johnson will come into this season as the number one cornerback on the roster after Kyle Fuller was released to create some cap relief.

Johnson showed flashes of already being a solid corner. Last season he had 16 pass breakups, which ranked 16th in the NFL. He also had the 13th best catch rate allowed in the NFL as well, very solid numbers from a rookie who was being asked a lot in this defense. This season he will be asked to do, even more, having to try and lock up some of the best wide receivers in the NFL.

Like I stated above in the Eddie Jackson part of the article, the Bears cornerback position besides veteran Desmond Trufant is very young. Trufant has also struggled to stay healthy during the latter part of his career. So the Bears need Johnson to provide stability on the outside. If he can’t the Bears will be relying on inexperienced cornerbacks like Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelly.

Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Defensive Line

So I had to cheat a little bit, it felt criminal to not put both of the guys on this list. Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman are the two most important players on this defense in my opinion. When these two are on the field together teams have a real big problem trying to run the football.

In 2018 when they were both healthy the Bears ranked 1st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Then in 2019, Akiem Hicks played in only five games, and the Bears fell to 9th in the league in rushing, which is still very solid. But then last season rolled around Goldman opted out due to covid-19 health concerns. In 2020 the bears rushing defense fell all the way to 15th with only Hicks in the Lineup. That goes to show how important Goldman is to this defense as a whole.

In my opinion, in order for this defense to become elite again, it all starts upfront with these guys. if the Bears can stop the run like they did in 2018-2019, sky is the limit for this defense once again. If the Bears can stop the run, it puts teams in long 3rd down opportunities. That is good news for superstar linebacker Khalil Mack, whose specialty is to rush the passer. This could set up Mack to have a bounce back after having two subpar seasons where he failed to record double-digit sacks. If all goes well, we could see the Bears defense get back to a top ten defense this season.

The post Previewing Chicago Bears Top 3 Most Important Defensive Players appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Dylan Clemons

The Chicago Bears are coming into this season hoping that their offense will improve. The offense the last three seasons since Matt Nagy has taken over as Head Coach has ranked, 21st, 29th, and 26th in total yards. In points scored in those three seasons, they ranked 9th, 22nd, and 29th. To put it nicely those numbers aren’t good, considering Nagy was brought in as an offensive-minded coach from the Andy Reid coaching tree.

Coming into this season, The Bears have made a few changes to the offense. The big change is at quarterback, moving on from former first-round pick Mitchell Trubisky. They brought in veteran Andy Dalton via free agency and drafted Justin Fields in the first round. Chicago also added a ton of speed to that side of the ball as well bringing in running back Damian Williams, and wide receivers Dimare Byrd and Marquise Goodwin.

The Bears hope those changes can at least bring their offense to at least the middle of the pack in the league. Now, I’m going to jump into who I believe are the three most important players on the offensive side of the football for the Bears to have success this season.

Allen Robinson, Wide Receiver

Allen Robinson has been the most consistent offensive player on the team during his three years in Chicago. No matter who the quarterback is, Robison always seems to produce. In Robinson’s three seasons with the team, he has caught passes from Mitchell Trubisky, Nick Foles, and Chase Daniels.

Those quarterbacks are nothing to write home about. However, it hasn’t hurt his production. Robinson saw 151 targets last season while catching 102 balls for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns. He also so the 4th most red-zone targets in the NFL last season with 19, so maybe with better quarterback play, the touchdowns will go up.

With all this production you would think that signing Robinson to a long-term extension would be a top priority for the Bears. Unfortunately, the two parties haven’t been able to come to terms with an extension during the last two off-seasons. Robinson will be playing the season on the franchise tag, which is something he isn’t happy about.

If Allen Robinson where to go down with injury the Bears would lack a true number one option in the passing game. They have some depth at receiver position with Anthony Miller, Darnell Mooney, Damiere Byrd, and Marquise Goodwin. However, all of them guys don’t have skills, or the body types to be a true number one option in an offense. For the bear as offense to take a step forward this season, Robinson will have to be a huge part in the offense.

Teven Jenkins, Offenisve Tackle

The Bears drafted Teven Jenkins out of Oklahoma State with the 39th pick of the NFL Draft. It was a surprise to many, that he had fallen to the second round, considering he was projected by most to be a 1st round pick. However he played mostly at the right tackle position in college, but the Bears project him to be the left tackle of the future.

The Offensive line has been a struggle for the Bears over the past few seasons. According to PFF, the Bears finished as the 20th best offensive line in football last season. That was helped by a late-season shuffle of the line. Adding Sam Mustipher to the lineup as the center, and moving pro-bowler Cody Whitehair to left guard, where he was graded as the third-best Left guard in football.

Jenkins was drafted to take the spot of seven-year starter Charles Leno. Leno was kind of a disappointment his last few seasons for the Bears, which led him to get cut this off-season. But as a former 7th round draft selection, it’s safe to say Leno outplayed his expectations.

Teven Jenkins was a first-team all-conference in the Big 12 in his senior season. He is known to be somewhat of a mauler as an offensive lineman. He Projects to be a solid run-blocker with his ability to flatten the edge for running backs. However, his short arms may hurt him in pass-blocking, with Longer athletic pass rushers can stab and separate from him. 

Some scouts and the Bears believe Jenkins can come in and be a solid starter on the line. Hopefully, that is true, because the Bears don’t have much depth behind him at left tackle. With Justin Fields most likely starting at some point this season, it’s important for a rookie QB to feel comfortable in the pocket. Especially with Jenkins being on Fields’ blind side.

Andy Dalton, Justin Fields, Quarterbacks 

I felt like it would be criminal to leave the quarterback position off this list. But it is impossible for me to only talk about one of these guys. 

I have a feeling it’s going to be a similar situation to what the Dolphins did last season. The Dolphins were 3-3 with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, who was playing pretty well. But the Dolphins couldn’t fight off the temptation of the first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa and they made the switch. I see the same thing happening to Andy Dalton with Justin Fields.

Andy Dalton spent last season with Dallas Cowboys. He ended up having to take over for the injured Dak Prescott in Week 6. Dallas was 4-5 with Dalton at the helm. Dalton was very serviceable, throwing 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 65% of his passes. I see Dalton being solid as the starter, but he’s obviously not the long-term plan.

Justin Fields is the long-term plan at quarterback in Chicago. He will be coming into the season as the QB2 in this offense. I don’t expect that to be the case for very long though. The Bears have been searching for a franchise quarterback for the entirety of their existence. Coach Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace are on the hot seat, so I don’t believe they can wait very long.

In 2019 Fields rushed for 484 yards with 10 rushing touchdowns at Ohio State. Fields also ran a 4.46 40 yard dash on his pro day. He also happened to throw 41 touchdowns as well compared to only three interceptions. I have a feeling that Fields will take over at quarterback in Week 4 against the bad Detroit Lions team. That game gives him a solid confidence boost as he takes the reigns of the offense for the rest of the season.

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By: Dylan Clemons

The Chicago Bears are coming into this season with more questions than answers. Head Coach Matt Nagy and General Manager Ryan Pace are very much on the hot seat after an 8-8 season. Largely, the disappointment stemmed from an embarrassing 21-9 playoff loss against the New Orleans Saints. The loss ended up being the last game quarterback Mitchell Trubisky would play for the Bears, with him now in Buffalo.

The Bears then signed veteran Andy Dalton to a one-year contract, whom they told will be the starter. Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. They then drafted quarterback Justin Fields with the 11th pick in the NFL draft after trading up to get him.

In my opinion, that should be the number one training camp battle for the Bears, but Nagy pretty much squashed that by saying Dalton will be under center Week 1. So with that said, let’s now jump into the top three training camp battles for the Chicago Bears.

Offensive Line

In my eyes, the Bears have three out of the five starters locked up heading into training camp on the offensive line. The first of which is one of the Tackles. They drafted Teven Jenkins out of Oklahoma State with the 39th pick of the NFL Draft. It was a surprise to many, that he had fallen to the second round, considering he was projected by most to be a 1st round pick. However he played mostly at the right tackle position in college, but the Bears project him to be the left tackle of the future.

Another guaranteed starter in my opinion is Pro Bowl guard/center, Cody Whitehair. He has started at both positions in his career but has mostly played center. The third starter is James Daniels, who was drafted by GM Ryan Pace in 2018. Daniels was only able to play in five games last season due to a torn pectoral. But heading into last season, Daniels had a 73.3 run-blocking grade according to PFF, which ranked 16th best in the league.

That leaves the last two offensive line spots up for grabs between four players. The Bears brought veteran Germain Ifedi back on a one-year deal. He started all 16 games for the Bears last season, mostly at guard, after being a tackle for four seasons in Seattle. He scored a 65.5 grade from PFF, which was by far the highest in his career.

The last three Linemen are wild cards in all of this. Undrafted free agent Sam Mustipher, from last year, started seven games and showed flashes of being a starting-caliber center. Alex Bars another undrafted free agent from two years also started in eight games last season. At times Bars looked overmatched at guard, and I project him to be a depth piece. The last guy in on this battle is Larry Borom, whom the Bears used round five draft capital on. Borom projects to be somewhat of a project, so I expect him to be on the bench at the start of the season.

For what its worth, I think the Bears starting offensive line should be, Teven Jenkins and Germain Ifedi at the Tackle positions. Cody Whitehair, and James Daniels at the guard positions, with Sam Mustipher as the starting center.

Cornerback

In one of the most bizarre off-season moves in the NFL, the Bears released veteran pro bowler Kyle Fuller to save cap space in which they severely needed. They also had veteran slot cornerback Buster Skrine leave in free agency as well. 

Cornerback is the thinnest position on the Bears roster heading into training camp. They signed veteran Desmond Trufant to a one-year contract this off-season. Trufant has had a solid career, being named to the Pro Bowl in 2015. But since that time, he has struggled to be able to stay healthy. Trufant has only played in 15 total games over the past two seasons for the Falcons and Lions.

This is putting a ton of pressure on second-year cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who also struggled to stay healthy only playing in 13 games due to a shoulder injury. But when Johnson was on the field, he was very solid. According to PFF Johnson ranked 6th in incompletion rate at 21%. Johnson will come into this season as the number one cornerback on the roster.

All of the other cornerbacks on the roster are very inexperienced. It looks like Kindle Vildor, and Duke Shelley will battle it out at the slot cornerback position. They each started a combined three games last season, and each had their moments. Vildor actually had seven tackles in the playoff game. My bet is on Vildor to win that battle. The Bears also drafted Thomas Graham Jr. in the 6th round of the draft, who may end up seeing early playing time. Former first-round pick Artie Burns is also on the roster, as he tries to battle back from a torn ACL he suffered in training camp last season.

Slot Wide Receiver

Heading into the last few seasons this was easy, it was Anthony Miller’s job to lose. Well, after another disappointing season, in which Miller could not stay out of coach Nagy’s doghouse. Miller has been involved in multiple trade reports this off-season

In 2018 the Bears traded up in the second round to draft Miller. Miller caught seven touchdowns in his rookie year, but since then has only four touchdowns combined the last two seasons. Last season Miller played 86% of his snaps from the slot, which ranked ninth in the NFL according to playerprofiler.com

With Miller’s time in Chicago possibly coming to a close, that opens the door for someone to take those slot snaps. The first player that comes to mind is free agent accusation Damiere Byrd who came over from the New England Patriots. The speedster that runs a 4.3 40 yard dash didn’t play a whole lot of snaps in the slot for the patriots, but that has a lot to do with long-standing slot receiver Julian Edelman. In my eyes, Byrd projects to me as a slot receiver with his small body type, only weighing 162 lbs.

Veteran Marquise Goodwin also signed with the Bears this off-season after opting out of the 2020 season due to covid-19 concerns. Goodwin has mostly played on the outside as well, only lining up in the slot for about 15% of his snaps in 2018 and 2019. The stats that sticks out the most to me is, Goodwin had a 1.88 target separation which ranked 5th in the NFL for that season. 

It is tough to project who is going to win the starting slot role considering we don’t know Anthony Miller’s future with the team. If Miller is on the roster for Week 1, I’d expect him to be lined up in the slot most of the snaps. If he is traded by Week 1, I bet that Damiere Byrd will be the third receiver behind Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney heading into the season.

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