It has been a busy stretch for the Chicago Bears and Head Coach Matt Eberf🎀lus.
They hired Shane Waldron to be their new offensive coordinator. Waldron brought in Kerry Joseph, who will serve as the team’s new quarterbacks coach. Chicago’s football team also reeled in Eric Washington as the new defensive coordinator. These moves only scratch the surfaceღ of what the Bears have to do this offseason. More changes are on the hori🧜zon.
However, one thing that is staying the same is Head Coach Matt Eberflus , according to reporting from NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero. Eberflus began calling plays for Chicago’s defense in Week 2 in place of then-defensive coordinator Alan Williams. Williams would resign before the team’s Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. But that is water under the bridge as the Bears move onto 2024.
The Bears defense has potential under Matt Eberflus
After an awful 2022, the Bears took a step in the right direction in 2023. Ranking 12th and yards allowed and 20th in scoring defense in 2023 is better than the 2022 alternative. And for the analytically minded, the Bears ranked 17th in DVOA in 2023. That was 15 spots better than where the rankings were sitting at this time last year when Eberflus’ unit ranked dead last.
One area that saw the most significant improvement was the run defense. Sure, the running back position has been devalued and teams are turning to the ground game with less frequency. But after watching the Bears put together one of the worst rush defenses I’ve ever seen in 2022, what we witnessed in 2023 was a breath of fresh air:
Credit Eberflus for holding things together last year and getting things on track. It could’ve turned into an absolute nightmare. But it didn’t. You’d be foolish if you didn’t tip your cap in Eberflus’ general direction. With that being said, progress can’t stop there — especially with how much has been invested on that side of the ball.
Here is a different look at the Chicag෴o Bears projected starting defenders in 2024:
There are two points that need to be spelled out here. Firstly, is that Bears management has (once again) made some heavy investments (both in cap space and in draft capital) on the defensive side of the ball. Secondly, is that it should’ve been expected that Chicago’s defense showed year-over-year improvement based solely on what was put into that side of the ball. The Bears still have their share of problems. But it would be so much more problematic if the team fielded a defense that absolutely stunk after hiring a defensive-leaning head coach and threw a bunch of top picks and cap space at the position group.
At some point in the near future, the Bears would be wise to start spending more cap space and draft picks on plugging gaps on the offensive side of the ball. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday. We’ll be around if something breaks.
