I want to point out that everyone uses the total yds defensivly to rank and rag on our Bears. Lat year we were 26th I think. No one ever talks about the Troy Aikman system of points. Last year we were 8th overall. We were 2nd in Takeaways. Our defense has a bend but don't break mentality. Yes we gave up some yards last year but if you look at the Aikman ratings, we were pretty solid. Anyone else agree with this or do you think our defense is that lacking?

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If you average based on plays defended, which I did below, it doesn't look nearly as bad.  Pretty simple to understand after looking at all the stats. Offense needs to sustain drives, take advantage of turnovers, and the good field position they get.

Bears rush D 3.4 yards a play-only 2 teams ranked ahead of them.

Bears pass D 6.6 yards per game-5 teams ranked ahead of them.

Bears total D 4.9 yards per play-4 teams ranked ahead of them.

3rd down % .35 4th best in the league.

32 takeaways. 2nd best in the league.

Well thats good and all. But that was our defense. Don't give up big plays, just give up ALOT of small ones. thats all

See the Falcons, Bucs, Panthers games we played. All games we should have won, yet the defense gave up the plays that allowed them to win it.

I agree with the bend not break rule, but when you bend without a pass rush, the whole defensive scheme is useless. Marinelli should fix that.

Expecting a single phase of the game to be so dominant that they can consistently win games in spite of the short-comings in other phases is well... unrealistic.

It happens, but it's very, very rare. The defense will be very much improved this upcoming season (in most people's perspective), due to having a somewhat decent offense to take some of the pressure off.

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Jango:

See the Falcons, Bucs, Panthers games we played. All games we should have won, yet the defense gave up the plays that allowed them to win it.

I agree with the bend not break rule, but when you bend without a pass rush, the whole defensive scheme is useless. Marinelli should fix that.

The ATL game was a bad break on the kickoff.
In the CAR game the offense putting a drive together would have made the difference, but I think they had three 3 and outs and 10 yard drive in the 4th. A Pro-bowl QB should help that.
Against the Bucs, they had 3 more 3 and outs in the second half and a missed field goal. That was half of their possessions. Any established drive and score would have avoided OT. Even in OT, the offense could have moved within field goal range and won it after the defense played tough on the initial OT drive by TB.
Even the loss against TEN, 23 total yards in the 3rd, that's FOUR possessions to go 23 yards. Then the game was capped by a 4 down 6 yard drive on the TEN 40 after the defense held strong for 2 straight possessions.
I don't mean to absolve the defense of all responsibility, but the offense didn't do their job, and the offensive ineptitude bothers me a lot more.

Edit: I should add that TEN drives for scores were for 22, 52, and 56 yards, and they forced a fumble on the goal line after the offense turned the ball over on the 25. The D played pretty well.

W'Hills Hippie:

Jango:

See the Falcons, Bucs, Panthers games we played. All games we should have won, yet the defense gave up the plays that allowed them to win it.

I agree with the bend not break rule, but when you bend without a pass rush, the whole defensive scheme is useless. Marinelli should fix that.

The ATL game was a bad break on the kickoff.
In the CAR game the offense putting a drive together would have made the difference, but I think they had three 3 and outs and 10 yard drive in the 4th. A Pro-bowl QB should help that.
Against the Bucs, they had 3 more 3 and outs in the second half and a missed field goal. That was half of their possessions. Any established drive and score would have avoided OT. Even in OT, the offense could have moved within field goal range and won it after the defense played tough on the initial OT drive by TB.
Even the loss against TEN, 23 total yards in the 3rd, that's FOUR possessions to go 23 yards. Then the game was capped by a 4 down 6 yard drive on the TEN 40 after the defense held strong for 2 straight possessions.
I don't mean to absolve the defense of all responsibility, but the offense didn't do their job, and the offensive ineptitude bothers me a lot more.

Edit: I should add that TEN drives for scores were for 22, 52, and 56 yards, and they forced a fumble on the goal line after the offense turned the ball over on the 25. The D played pretty well.

I won't argue your facts, you are right about it. However, I recalled in games like the Falcons, Bucs and Tennessee game, they invested their defense in stopping the run, which they did.

The kicker was, they focused completely on the run and allowed QBs like Kerry Collins, BRIAN GRIESE and rookie Matt Ryan to make successful passes that allowed them to score points for them. I am not gonna go back and look at stats, but I distinctly remember yelling at the TV for the Bears giving up passes on 3rd downs that resulted in 1st downs.

Is that the secondary fault? Kind of, but it was because of the poor pass rush which is something that should not be argued. Bend not break only works when you win at the LOS and that is something they struggled with last season.

The defense was bad last year. They could not stop a pass if their life depended on it. Saying anything else is making excuses for one of our beloved group of players. I believe our weak spot was teh defensive line. I do not care how good your secondary is, if you get no pressure on the QB they will pick you a part.

That being said I believe very strongly that our defense will be much approved.  Safety is an area of concern, but if our dline is improved, our corners improve, than we should be ok. I do not think they will play at 2006 level but top 15.

To play at a top 5 level I believe they will need excellent play from Harris, Urlacher, and Tillman. I believe Tillman can play at that level but I am not sure about Urlacher or Harris - they are hurting, but it is early and you never know what they will bring. Supposedly Urlacher is very plugged in this year and in great shape. If we get a decent rotation on the line we could hit top 5.

And lastly, Babich must not call 1 defensive play all year.

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Vio
#42 Fan of the Just-Chuck-It Fan Club - Go Cutler!!!

People can throw around any fancy stats they want. What i remember watching. Was Matt Ryan killing us all day long on 3rd down. I remember Griese throwing the ball 60 times and us getting zero sacks! thats pathetic. I remember watching Kerry Collins have the best game he's had as a titan against us. He carved our defense up. I remember watching Adrian Peterson woop us in Chicago. And i remember watching him woop us in MN again after that. I remember the Houstin Texans making our defense look like a joke even though we win that game we make the playoffs. I remember on Packer Sunday. Ryan Grant having the best game he's had all year by far and Aaron Rogers made our defense look like crap!

Our defense did do some good things last year and they wern't horrible. And having Cutler should help them not be on the field as much. But we need a lot of improving if we want to get back to the SB.. From the coaching, pass rush, FS, and a CB opposite of Tillman. With JA drafting new young fresh hungry defensive players. And with Lovie and Rod working togeather. I think we have a good shot at being better. I just wonder if were going to be a little better. Or if we can be improved enough to contend for the SB.

Yards is the best indicator, thats why everyone uses it.  If yards are the best in the league, then points take care of themselves.  Turnovers is a great stat also though, and the Bears are consistently at the top there, but last overall the D was pretty bad.

Its the mindset more then anything.  They need thier swagger back.  The talent is there! If they just start believing in themselves again, they will be scary! I heard somewhere that Football is 90% metal. 

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chitowndabears07:

People can throw around any fancy stats they want. What i remember watching. Was Matt Ryan killing us all day long on 3rd down. I remember Griese throwing the ball 60 times and us getting zero sacks! thats pathetic. I remember watching Kerry Collins have the best game he's had as a titan against us. He carved our defense up. I remember watching Adrian Peterson woop us in Chicago. And i remember watching him woop us in MN again after that. I remember the Houstin Texans making our defense look like a joke even though we win that game we make the playoffs. I remember on Packer Sunday. Ryan Grant having the best game he's had all year by far and Aaron Rogers made our defense look like crap!

Our defense did do some good things last year and they wern't horrible. And having Cutler should help them not be on the field as much. But we need a lot of improving if we want to get back to the SB.. From the coaching, pass rush, FS, and a CB opposite of Tillman. With JA drafting new young fresh hungry defensive players. And with Lovie and Rod working togeather. I think we have a good shot at being better. I just wonder if were going to be a little better. Or if we can be improved enough to contend for the SB.

I wasn't trying to over-complicate things with stats. I just wanted to point out that the defense was not the '06 Bears, but they did play well enough to keep us in the game. With a better offense, some of those L's become W's. It's the little things that make a difference, like an extended late game scoring drive by the offense that keeps the D off the field instead of a handful of 3 and outs.

W'Hills Hippie:

chitowndabears07:

People can throw around any fancy stats they want. What i remember watching. Was Matt Ryan killing us all day long on 3rd down. I remember Griese throwing the ball 60 times and us getting zero sacks! thats pathetic. I remember watching Kerry Collins have the best game he's had as a titan against us. He carved our defense up. I remember watching Adrian Peterson woop us in Chicago. And i remember watching him woop us in MN again after that. I remember the Houstin Texans making our defense look like a joke even though we win that game we make the playoffs. I remember on Packer Sunday. Ryan Grant having the best game he's had all year by far and Aaron Rogers made our defense look like crap!

Our defense did do some good things last year and they wern't horrible. And having Cutler should help them not be on the field as much. But we need a lot of improving if we want to get back to the SB.. From the coaching, pass rush, FS, and a CB opposite of Tillman. With JA drafting new young fresh hungry defensive players. And with Lovie and Rod working togeather. I think we have a good shot at being better. I just wonder if were going to be a little better. Or if we can be improved enough to contend for the SB.

I wasn't trying to over-complicate things with stats. I just wanted to point out that the defense was not the '06 Bears, but they did play well enough to keep us in the game. With a better offense, some of those L's become W's. It's the little things that make a difference, like an extended late game scoring drive by the offense that keeps the D off the field instead of a handful of 3 and outs.

And of course. If our offense scores more points and they hold on to the ball longer we will win more games and it will help our defense out. I dont think our defense was good last year. And i named a lot of things that stuck out to me last year that made me feel that way. If our bear defense is the 10th best in football. I would get mad game day. I want our defense to be top 5.

Give Cutler and Forte a top 5 defense and i think were the best team in the NFC.

I agree with the Aikman Ratings, I think thats a much better way to rate the offense and defense.  It takes into account a lot more than ypg.  Kind of like how there is a qb rating.  I don't know why the major media outlets have not resorted to that yet? 

jester:

If you average based on plays defended, which I did below, it doesn't look nearly as bad.  Pretty simple to understand after looking at all the stats. Offense needs to sustain drives, take advantage of turnovers, and the good field position they get.

Bears rush D 3.4 yards a play-only 2 teams ranked ahead of them.

Bears pass D 6.6 yards per game-5 teams ranked ahead of them.

Bears total D 4.9 yards per play-4 teams ranked ahead of them.

3rd down % .35 4th best in the league.

32 takeaways. 2nd best in the league.

You make all good points I agree. At the end of the day it's how many points did the other team get, we all know the current system of yards allowed is not very meaningful. The NFL is usually pretty smart I'm surprised they don't fix some of these issues.

The defense was not bad last year, but they were not that good either. they gave up 350 points. They also gave up a fair amount of big plays and had some lapses in judgement.

One of my main hopes for Culter is that the defense will get to rest this year and those lapses in judgement and big plays will dramatically decrease.

You hit the the nail on that one, Phil..... My desire is to see the Bears retain their post and dominate again. I respect all the teams who have achieve the NFL championship credit must be due to the team that paved the way. And d@mmit it's so long over due.

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RAW DEAL BROTHA !!!!!!!

I'm not worried about the defense this year. I'm worried about the offensive playcalling. and offensive line

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