Bears: Matt Eberflus explains why the run defense was so bad yesterday
One of the many things that went wrong defensively for the Chicago Bears yesterday, was their lack of impact when it came to stopping the run. This has been a problem all season, as the Bears went into yesterday's game with one of the worst defenses in all of football. But their effort in doing […]
One of the many things that went wrong defensively for the Chicago Bears yesterday, was their lack of impact when it came to stopping the run.
This has been a problem all season, as the Bears went into yesterday's game with one of the worst defenses in all of football. But their effort in doing so yesterday was porous, even given their poor run defense overall.
Tony Pollard ran for over 130 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries yesterday, while averaging and astonishing 9.4 yards per carry. These numbers were only very slightly bloated by Pollard's 54 yard rushing touchdown in the second half, but his total impact on the game was evident nonetheless.
Two of Pollard's touchdowns went for at least ten yards, with one coming from 18 yards and the other coming from 54 yards as mentioned previously.
On both of those, Pollard virtually met zero resistance as he galloped to the end zone.
That development isn't particularly encouraging given the fact that this Bears defense continues to look poor when it comes to stopping the run. So you can bet there were some questions regarding the defense and what Matt Eberflus was thinking about those plays.
In fact, Eberflus was asked about the two runs, and why Pollard seemingly pranced his way through the vaunted Bears defense.
His answer? It ran along the lines of gap integrity, which is so important to master when it comes to stopping the run.
"The first one [first of Pollard's touchdowns, the 18 yard scamper] was gap integrity," Eberflus said to explain what went wrong during Pollard's 18 yard touchdown run. "We ended up getting knocked out of our gaps in a couple ways, in both [the] A-gap and [the] B-gap."
Gap integrity seems like a simple concept to follow on the surface. Only because it sounds so simple.
But in reality, the physicality of the game can throw you off your mental responsibilities, and put you in bad positions defensively like the Bears were yesterday.
This is a concept the Bears need to nail down soon, because a bad run defense isn't something you can simply ignore as you try to improve defensively.
Especially with one of their top run stuffing linebackers being shipped out today.
Luckily for the Bears, Eberflus seems committed to fixing the problem, which should go over well sooner rather than later.
Featured image via Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
