Chicago Bears: 5 Questions Left Unanswered in Week 1

The Chicago Bears hosted the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and ended up winning the game 30-12 despite being labeled as underdogs by almost everyone.  Chicago played very well on defense in keeping the Falcons offense out of the end zone while the offense managed the game very well for the most part.

But as there is with any win there are some things that stuck out for the Bears in this game and there are some questions that still need to be answered.

The following is a look at five questions that still need to be answered even after a win by the Bears this Sunday.

1. Is the Bear’s Run Defense Slipping?

The Bears rushing defense allowed 110 yards rushing which isn’t that bad by any means but they did allow a couple of longer runs that could have caused them some problems.  They will have to tighten things up there in order to have success in the future.

The Bears defense has been strong against the run and will be so again this season.  They just have to get back in the rhythm and get back to playing strong rushing defense.

2. Can the Bear’s Secondary Hold Up If the Pass Pressure Isn’t There?

The typical Cover 2 defense allows for shorter passes to be completed in front of the cornerbacks and safeties and the Bears did allow a few of these on Sunday.  What they didn’t do was allow those long devastating completions down the field and that’s a plus.  The secondary was helped out a lot by the play of the defensive line but if the defensive line isn’t able to get the pass pressure that it got on Sunday then the secondary could be exposed. 

The Bears may have some issues in the secondary and need the pass rush to help them mask some of those issues.  As long as the pass rush works well the secondary will work well but if it doesn’t then there could be some problems.

3. Can Jay Cutler Do His Part to Avoid Sacks?

While Jay Cutler is not always responsible for the sacks he takes he can do his part to avoid at least some of them.  There were a couple of sacks on Sunday that he could have avoided by throwing the ball away so he needs to be more diligent about getting rid of the ball quicker.  If he can do that he will avoid some of the sacks that he takes.  It will also help him stay healthy.

4. Can the Bears Keep Up the Pass Pressure?

That pass rush was big in the Bear’s first game and if they can keep that up they will win a lot of games.  The only question now is can they keep that pass rush up.  The Falcons offensive line wasn’t a bad one and they had their way with them.  Yes, they will be facing better offensive lines in the future and if they can keep that rush going they should be able to dominate on defense.

5. Will the Special Team’s Units eliminate the Penalties?

The special teams units had some costly penalties the other day and that’s expected this early in the season.  Special teams usually takes a little bit more time to “get things right” and soon they will be back to the way that they have been under special teams coach Dave Toub.  There are some new players on special teams and they still have some gelling to do on that unit.  Things will get better in time.