No, the Chicago Bears defense didn’t look anything like we’re used to seeing.
This wasn’t the hard-hitting, game-wrecking bunch we’ve grown accustomed to seeing throughout our lives watching the Bears. But it’s not as if was all bad. Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot of bad. Chicago’s defense might as well have been playing under a dark cloud.
However, every cloud comes with a silver lining. And for these Bears, the bright spot on a defense that was otherwise grim was the saf🌼ety tandem⛄ of Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker — each of whom earned some serious hardware this week:
Jackson was the first-ever recipient of Head Coach Matt Eberflus’ Ballhawk Award. Meanwhile, Brisker earned the team’s Rookie of the Year honors. Hey now, I’ll admit that maybe . But it ain’t nothing!
I’m not sure anyone on the defense was more deserving of an award honoring their season than Jackson. The bounce-back year Jackson put on in 2022 was a reminder that he still had big-time playmaking ability in him. Before suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury in Week 12, Jackson had 4 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles. Jackson entered the year getting a clean slate from this coaching staff and made the most of it. And, frankly, the coaching staff made the most of having a player with Jackson’s diverse skillset. We’ve not seen Jackson be used like this in a long time (if ever). You just love to see stuff like that from a player with his ability. Tack on Jackson earning captain status and leaning into a leadership role, this was my favorite season of his since 2018.
As for Brisker, no rookie did more than the second-round pick from Penn State. Brisker was a baller from the get-go. Remember how he was a standout performer in the Bears’ preseason opener? Well, he would take that energy and display it throughout the entirety of the regular season. Brisker was a stat-sheet stuffer all year long. He racked up 104 tackles (73 solo!), collected 5 tackles-for-loss, had a forced fumble and a recovery, and came away with 2 pass breakups, an interception, 4 quarterback hits, and a team-leading 4 sacks. It is never good when your team’s most successful pass-rusher is a safety, but we’ll allow it for this season because it showed off Brisker’s versatility. I can’t wait to see how the Bears use him and Jackson in tandem together next year.
Especially if they beef up the defensive front with someone li🤪ke Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter. 😉
