Chicago Bears: Eberflus Looks For Improvements On Defense

Despite having another frustrating season, the Chicago Bears still have much to play for. Head coach Matt Eberflus still wants the defense to show improvements in the final four games.

Coming out of their bye week, the Chicago Bears enter the toughest part of their schedule. They play three playoff-contending teams and one team, the Detroit Lions, who already beat them earlier in the season and are playing very well now.

Despite living in the basement of the NFC North, there are still some things to play for. There are young players who are getting valuable playing time. The snaps they receive are great for their development moving forward. Additionally, there are veterans who want to be a part of the rebuild.

Head coach Matt Eberflus still wants his team to play hard. There are still areas that need to be worked on. Just because a team isn’t going anywhere in the postseason doesn’t mean they should stop trying to get better.

The Bears are playing teams in the playoff battle. They can actually play the part of spoilers. Also, playing hard in these final games prepare them for when they eventually play meaningful games in December.

One area Eberflus wants to see improvement in is defense. When he was the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts he took pride in how his defense created turnovers. They were always among the league leaders in forcing turnovers.

The same started happening when he took over the Chicago Bears. He brought over Alan Williams from the Colts to run a similar defense. The players were always around the ball and they forced 13 turnovers in the first eight games of the season.

Things changed, however. The Bears have just two turnovers forced in their last five games. Both of them came in one game, against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11.

Sure, injuries had an impact. Safety Eddie Jackson, who leads the team in turnovers, is out for the season. The second one on the team is safety Jaquan Brisker (who, by the way, also leads in sacks). He missed the last two games due to a concussion.

Despite that, Eberflus wants to see the turnovers increase.

What I want to see really is the turnovers. We want that to increase because obviously we’re not where we want to be. We have set that goal and we want to make sure we’re doing a good job of that. We always want to win the ball.

Forcing turnovers is a critical part of the game. By forcing them, they put the offense in a good position to score. Most of the turnovers end up giving the offense a short field to operate. It is much easier to score when the offense starts in the opponent’s territory and not have to constantly depend on 70 or 80-yard drives.

Winning the turnover game will be difficult this week. They face the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles lead the league in turnovers forced and have the fewest turnovers committed. They lead the league in turnover differential (+33).

Third-down conversions are killing the defense

Another area that has really hurt the Chicago Bears’ defense is third-down conversions. The Bears rank last in third-down conversions, allowing opponents to convert at a 48.7 percent clip.

A big part of the reason for this problem is a lack of a pass rush. Chicago ranks last in both sacks (16) and quarterback knockdown percentage (4.2 percent). In addition, they rank 27th in quarterback pressure percentage (17.8 percent).

Without any pressure, opposing quarterbacks can stand in the pocket and eventually find an open receiver. There is only so much time the secondary can stay with receivers before they break down.

The road ahead for the final four games of the season is a difficult one for the Chicago Bears. However, they can still show some signs of improvement and offer some hope for next season.