Bears season-long concern lingered into Week 18 and continues to cast a dark cloud over Chicago’s playoff chances
The Bears defense had another stinker of a game against the Detroit Lions.
The Chicago Bears had little to play for in Week 18 other than a small seeding advantage but the team was fully committed to getting things back on track and build some kind of momentum after how things went in Week 17.
That loss stung, mainly on the defensive side of the ball and the Bears were determined to go out on Sunday against the Detroit Lions and show it was nothing but a small blemish.
“I’ll say this – I don’t think I coached well enough last week, I don’t think we played well enough last week,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said going into Week 18. “So, you learn your lessons, you make the corrections that you need to make. Now we move forward.”
It’s hard to say the Bears moved forward, in fact the defense moved backward, a lot. Chicago allowed 433 total yards, the fifth time a team totaled 400+ total yards against this unit. It’s not some small blemish, it’s been a season-long dark cloud the Bears will now bring with them into the playoffs.
Playoffs will be short-lived with this defense is playing, regardless of offensive struggles
Offensively, the Bears had another slow start that continued snowballing and it’s clear head coach Ben Johnson was frustrated with that unit. Chicago entered the final quarter of play trailing 16-0 until things finally started clicking for the unit, leading to two touchdowns by quarterback Caleb Williams, who had a quite but historic game.
The defense, to give some credit, only allowed 16 points with the offense struggling, but the Lions seemed to be walking all over that unit. Jared Goff finished the game with 331 passing yards, including 139 to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The only thing that slowed down that offense was themselves in that game.
Blame can be hand for both sides of the ball for this loss. But, looking ahead to the playoffs, the Bears have skins on the wall showing this offense can rebound from this and contend with any team in the NFC. The same can’t be said for this defense.
Little change can be made at this point for the Bears defense
The Bears tried multiple times to slap a Band-Aid on this defense with additions such as cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson and defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and injuries certainly played a strong role in the production level for this unit throughout the season.
At this point, nothing should be expected to change, this is just who the Bears are defensively. You’re going to have a field day against this unit saying you stay ahead of schedule.
The only saving grace is the outside shot that slot cornerback Kyler Gordon can return off the injured reserve and at a fitting time after Gardner-Johnson’s injury on Sunday. That’s really the only improvement the Bears can hope to get from this unit.
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