Why the Bears Defense Is Not As Good As It Looks

The Chicago Bears defense has looked great this year.

Their defense ranks eighth in the league in yards allowed per game at 254.5 yards. 

They are also eighth in the league in points allowed over the season insofar as well as in points allowed per game (16.5).

In their first game of the season against the Colts, Chicago shut Indy's potent offense down—the Bears gave up just 293 yards to the Colts. 

Stud Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai in particular only averaged about 3.67 yard per carry, gaining 44 yards on 12 carries.  He didn't score a touchdown. 

In Chicago's second game of the year against the Panthers, their defense dominated in the first half. 

Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams only picked up 31 yards on 11 carries. 

Because of the fact that the running game didn't get anywhere and the Panthers' best receiver, Steve Smith, was serving the second of his two-game suspension, the passing game stalled. 

But in the second half running back Jonathan Stewart led the Panthers attack on a comeback in which Carolina scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead 20-17. 

Stewart rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in the final two quarters.  That comes to an average of roughly six yards per carry.

There's a reason why the Bears shut Addai and Williams down.  They're elusive backs.  They rely on broken tackles, agility, and quickness to get by defenders.

The Bears defense appears to be built to negate the qualities smaller backs like Williams and Addai would possess: elusiveness, agility, quickness, and speed.

But they're not built to be able to stop a power running game. 

Panthers halfback Jonathan Stewart exposed that weakness in the second half of last Sunday's Bears loss.

He bulled through defenders, knocked them on their backsides, and dragged them behind him as they clung to his ankles in vain attempts to bring him down.  Stewart found great success doing this, as you can easily see from his stats above. 

This is why the Bears defense is not as good as it looks.  It's built to shut down speed and elusiveness.  But its design also prevents it from containing power running backs like Stewart.

Fortunately for the Bears, this weakness shouldn't hurt them too much.

Two out of the other three NFC North teams don't have a power halfback. 

Only the Vikings have anyone who could be considered a power back—Adrian Peterson.  But he's so good that Chicago's ability to stop him wouldn't improve if he were just an elusive or speed back. 

As for the rest of the teams on the Bears' schedule, the only other teams they may have trouble stopping the run against are the Eagles, Jaguars, and Saints. 

I only mention the Eagles because Brian Westbrook is such a disgusting running back that he could have a great day against any team. 

The Jaguars actually have a power RB in Fred Taylor.  Taylor is coming off a 1,200-yard season in 2007, and with an awful passing game and Maurice Jones-Drew presumably getting shut down by the Bears' speed-oriented defense, Taylor will get a lot of chances to do damage against the Bears.  

The Saints also have a bruiser in Deuce McAllister.  While he only has 10 yards on two carries and is rebounding from an injury-shortened 2007 season, McAllister has the skill set to perform against Chicago's run D.

The Chicago Bears defense is not as good as you might think.  There is one big weakness in their defensive unit that will keep them from doing anything special this season: a power running game.