By: Jake Rajala

The Chicago Bears will strive to unveil a better record than 6-11 in the Matt Nagy-less era. Well, it appears the Bears have confidence in their new direction and titan-like NFL critics have expressed their praise for CHI. The Cowboys legend Troy Aikman is one of the NFL legends that has shown bliss for Fields and his crew. Per Chicago Tribune, Aikman stated, “there is no doubt in my mind that he can do that”.

Aikman elaborated on the change in playing calling and how Matt Eberflus could be the spark for the Bears offense. He outlined that Norv Tuner completely changed his Cowboys offense. Although, he did mention that the change of scenery can’t be the sole reason why it completely changes.

It may seem like the Bears exhibit a young QB, so it’s easy for NFL analysts to pick the Bears as an easy team write-off. Nonetheless, the NFL world witnessed the Cincinnati Bengals surprise the world on the back of a “Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase” connection. The Bengals were arguably the worst pass protection unit and they display the 26th pass defense (passing YPG allowed). Yet, the Bengals edged out the KC Chiefs twice in 2021 and scored a seat in the Super Bowl.

The Bears will surely look to benefit from Fields dual-threat ability and deep-arm passing ability with Darnell Mooney and the rookie Velus Jones Jr. On the defensive side of things, it will honestly be a challenge to replace the production of Khalil Mack. It honestly appears the Bears are looking to ship out the other aging pass rusher Quin, as well. Expect growing pains from the Bears defense, but they should lean on Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, and potentially even Quinn to be play-makers on defense.

On the horizon, the Bears will look to build on their new energy, learn to get new faces like Velus Jones Jr. involved, and perhaps they will add talent to the FA pool. It may be wise for CHI to reunite with Akiem Hicks.

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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.

Team Defenses are usually drafted in the last round of redraft leagues if at all. Many leagues wait until waivers begin, before adding a defense, but every team will have to make their choice before week 1. Each year there seems to be one defensive unit that averages close to 20 points, but it’s usually difficult to predict which team that will be. Beyond the top defense, there are about 4 or 5 others who aren’t likely to hit waivers all season. The rest will often be dropped to waivers early or at least during the team’s bye week. There are several things to consider when choosing a defense, but one of the most important things is their strength of schedule. In this article we’ll look at the defenses in two divisions, to avoid based on their strength of schedule.

AFC North 

In 2020, the AFC North was the only division with 3 teams in the playoffs & their defensive units were no small part of that success. Taking a closer look at recent roster changes, this division may be the most offensively diverse in the league. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were already tough to prepare for & now they’ve upgraded with several new receiving options. The combination of Nick Chubb & Kareem Hunt has more than opened up the Browns passing game, which includes big names at Receiver & Tight End as well. The Steelers already have a very talented WR room, which is difficult to predict for even fantasy purposes & likely more so for opposing Defensive Coordinators. The addition of Najee Harris & Pat Freiermuth in the draft will add more options for a team that likely still needs to get the ball off quickly. 

Though the Bengals finished 2020 with only 4 wins, they shouldn’t be overlooked as an offensive threat with the return of Joe Burrows & Joe Mixon, as well as Rookie WR Ja’marr Chase. 

On top of playing each of these teams twice, every defense in the AFC North will have to face the NFC North & AFC West. This unfortunately includes the Packers, Chiefs, Vikings & Chargers. These common opponents will mean that every AFC North team will have an unfavorable matchup in at least 10 of their 17 games. If anything, the Ravens may be worth picking up for the first 4 weeks, as they will face the Raiders, Lions & Broncos during that stretch, however they should likely be dropped or traded afterwards. While 3 of these AFC North defenses should be very good, these matchups put them into the category of letting someone else deal with them in 2021 redraft leagues. 

NFC North:

One thing that has been fairly consistent during the Aaron Rodgers era is that Half of the offenses in the NFC North are especially concerning for defenses & the other half just isn’t. This year it appears Green Bay & Minnesota should once again be on the right side of the division. As for Detroit, there are always an abundance of unanswered questions involved with a rebuild. This rebuild comes with a new Head Coach, Quarterback, several new running backs & receivers, as well as a promising rookie left tackle. While the Lions’ have youth on their side, this isn’t likely to be a top 20 offensive unit in 2021.

The Bears drafted their Quarterback of the future in Justin Fields, though he isn’t expected to start early & not much else has changed for this offense. 

Outside of the division, each team in the NFC North will face the whole of the AFC North & the NFC West. As noted above, the AFC North includes 4 tough offensive opponents. A pairing with the NFC West means the NFC North will have to face Russell Wilson & Kyler Murray, as well as the offenses of Sean McVay & Kyle Shanahan. These division pairings almost guarantee 8 tough matchups for the NFC North Defenses. Add 2 more tough division games for the Vikings & Packers defenses (making at least 10 of 17), or 4 more for the Lions & Bears defenses(12 of 17). The shared opponents alone on this difficult schedule are more than I want to maneuver as a fantasy manager. 

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