WARE, England – The nickname coined by Chicago Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker aptly describes the way Chicago’s defense harassed Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton in a 36-10 victory over Carolina.
The Bears pressured Dalton (and briefly quarterback Bryce Young) on 20 of 41 drops (48.8%) for their highest pressure rate in a game since ESPN began tracking the metric in 2009.
Walker captioned a photo on X of himself and several Bears defenders celebrating with “Menaces of Midway.” This is a play on the “Monsters of Midway” nickname that describes some of the best defenses in franchise history.
“I learned growing up, that chemistry within a room and a team is very important,” defensive end Montez Sweat said. “It’s one thing to have your own mindset as to how you approach the game, but when everyone is on the same page and you want to play for the man next to you as much as him, everything is sort of going in the same direction.”
As Chicago’s offense went through the ups and downs of the early season with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams at the helm, the consistent play of the defense kept the Bears (3-2) going in every game, even in defeats. .
The Bears won their season opener against the Tennessee Titans 24-17 after a blocked punt returned for a touchdown that snowballed through the Chicago defense, forcing a fumble (which led to a field goal) and sealed the game when cornerback Tyrique Stevenson returned a Will Levis interception for a touchdown.
Chicago kept the Houston Texans’ offense in check in a 19-13 Week 2 loss and was the backbone of another one-score game in a 21-16 loss against the Indianapolis Colts.
As the offense began to find its stride in Week 4 with a 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams and a subsequent win over the Carolina Panthers, Chicago’s tight-knit defense continued to respond to his pre-season expectations to finish the season as the best. -5 unit.
Through five weeks, the Bears defense earned some of the highest marks in the league in the following categories:
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Third in takeaways: 11
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Third in interception rate: 3.95%
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Third in turnover percentage: 18.3%
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Third-to-third conversion rate down: 28.57%
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Fifth in the opposing red zone Conversion rate: 38.46%
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Sixth point differential: 5.6
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Sixth in passing yards per game per play: 174.0/5.72
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Eighth in sacks per pass attempt: 9.21%
Chicago finished the 2023 season with 25 takeaways, which was tied for seventh, and the Bears tied the San Francisco 49ers for the NFL lead in interceptions with 22. That’s only ‘mid-season (coinciding with the trade for Sweat) that the rise in both cases was triggered.
“It’s just a message that we preach every day,” Sweat said. “[Defensive coordinator] Coach [Eric] Washington talks about threes (to remember) which constitute the field for a day of training. It’s just an emphasis, and all Coach Flus does is talk about the ball: the offense protects it, the defense has to go get it. »
Added cornerback Kyler Gordon: “We want to start fast. It’s important for our season and our playoffs. When you get those turnovers, it’s a big momentum shift in the game and it increases your chances to win.”
Against Carolina, the Bears scored a touchdown three plays after safety Jaquan Brisker forced a fumble, which Gordon recovered. After safety Kevin Byard III caught a pass intended for Panthers receiver Jonathan Mingo, the Bears offense put together a scoring drive that culminated with a field goal.
Byard, who signed a two-year contract with the Bears this offseason, is tied for the most interceptions since the start of the 2017 season with 29.
Another key to Chicago’s early success is its ability to pressure quarterbacks. For any questions about maintaining a strong pass rush after finishing the 2023 season with the second-fewest sacks (30) and tied for the sixth-lowest pressure percentage (18.8%), the defense of the Bears has the sixth-highest pressure percentage (29.7%). ) and is almost halfway to his 2023 season total with 14 sacks.
Part of the increase in production is due to play inside the defensive line. Gervon Dexter Sr., Chicago’s three-technique, is second among all defensive tackles in sacks (5), while the contributions of Andrew Billings, whose skills as a passer from the nose tackle position, have helped the Bears keep quarterbacks high in the pocket.
There has also been a slight change in philosophy, and perhaps a more aggressive style of play from Eberflus. The Bears ranked 21st in the NFL in 2023 when blitzing, doing so 22.2% of the time. As Eberflus has shaped his defense, whose roots lie in the Tampa-2 system that typically relies on a four-man pressure, the Bears have started playing more Cover-3 since last season.
Through five games, the Bears are rushing five or more defenders on 22.1% of snaps (38 called blitzes). That’s just below where they finished last season.
“We’re excited about the production we’ve gotten out of it and our foundation is rushing and coverage, starting with our four-man rush,” Washington said. “We like the pressure that complements that. We don’t want to live in that scenario, but we definitely want it to complement what we like to do with our coverage front. And you know, it’s just about speed, timing or making sure we can impact the game without having to deploy a fifth guy, and when we do, we need that person to be a huge factor.”
