The Chicago Bears’ defense had a dominant performance in their Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans. The unit wants to build on that success against CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans this week.
The Chicago Bears‘ defense is on a mission in 2024. They want to show the NFL world that they deserve to be talked about as one of the best units in the league. For most of the 2023 season, it was an elite unit. However, a horrible first four weeks overshadowed that.
Yes, the arrival of Montez Sweat helped the defense. The unit was playing well before that, though. In the first four weeks of the season, the Bears gave up 34.2 points per game. In the four games following that and before Sweat arrived, they allowed 20.2 points per game.
Once Sweat arrived, though, the Chicago Bears defense took off. They allowed just 17.9 points per game. They forced 19 of their 28 turnovers in that period. Additionally, with Sweat leading the way, the Chicago Bears had 20 sacks. In the eight games without him, they recorded 10 sacks.
This season, the defense wanted to get off to a fast start. Doing so would go a long way to showing how great this defense is. Looking for greatness, they have to play well throughout the season.
© Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
Well, the Chicago Bears defense certainly got off to a roaring start in Week 1. They sacked Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis three times. Even more impressive, they consistently knocked him around. He was constantly on the ground, even when he was competing passes.
The defense wore Levis down as the game progressed. He got spooked a bit and was expecting a Chicago Bears defender to be on top of him. Then the pass rush forced him to make the worst decision of the game.
DeMarcus Walker was all over Levis and was about to register a sack. Levis panicked, however, and tried to flip the ball to one of his receivers. The flip was not strong enough to get to the receiver, though. Instead, it went into cornerback Tyrique Stevenson‘s hands. He took it in for the pick-six.
After the game, Stevenson had the quote of the day to describe the play.
If he’s going to make dumb decisions like that, we’re going to make him pay for it.
© David Banks-Imagn Images
Levis had a shot to try to tie the game. However, his throw downfield was intercepted by Jaylon Johnson.
Stevenson had 4 tackles, 2 passes defended, and the pick-six for 43 yards. He was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. However, Johnson had himself a huge game. He had 3 tackles (2 for loss), 2 passes defended, and the interception that sealed the victory. He allowed one completion for -2 yards.
© David Banks-Imagn Images
Johnson himself is on a mission to prove his worth. He was upset that he was not ranked among the top one hundred players in the NFL. He had a breakout season last year and the Chicago Bears rewarded him with a huge contract extension. Now he wants to show the league he is an elite player.
With the defensive line doing its job of pressuring the quarterback, this great Chicago Bears secondary can play elite ball. Last season the Bears led the league in interceptions and were fifth in total turnovers. Generating more turnovers will give the offense a lot of short fields to work with.
The secondary also does a great job of stopping the receivers after the catch. In Week 1, they allowed just 49 yards after catch. That ranked third in the league, behind the Titans by one yard, and the Miami Dolphins by nine yards.
It all starts up front. The defensive linemen have to constantly pressure the quarterback. That is what happened in Week 1. Sweat, Walker, Darrell Taylor and company want to show they are up to the task. Then there is Austin Booker.
Booker looks to be a future star. He had a great training camp and played well in the preseason games. However, he is still a bit raw. He had only 580 snaps in college. With the veterans playing so well on Sunday, he only saw six snaps on defense.
Booker will see more snaps as the season progresses. Adding him to the mix will just make the pass rush that much better.
Defense wants to build on its Week 1 success
© Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
Yes, the Chicago Bears’ pass rush did a great job. That is over with now. It was great to celebrate that for a while. Now they have to repeat that against the Houston Texans and the reigning Rookie of the Year, C.J. Stroud.
Stroud had a big game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. He completed 75 percent of his passes for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Texans came away with an exciting 29-27 road victory. They now go home and face the Chicago Bears. It is tagged as a battle between the reigning Rookie of the Year against the one who wants that title, Caleb Williams.
The difference could be found in the trenches. Both defenses are good. The key is what happens with each offensive line. The Texans allowed four sacks last week. While many talk about some of the pressure Williams felt, the line did well overall. There were some struggles by center Coleman Shelton and right guard Nate Davis, but the rest of the line performed well, giving up just two sacks.
The Chicago Bears’ pass rush did a great job in Week 1. However, some can dismiss that by saying Levis often makes big mistakes. Also, the Titans’ offensive line is not an elite unit. The Texans do not have a great offensive line themselves. If the Bears can penetrate Houston’s line and get to Stroud, it could open more eyes around the league.
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