Happy Thursday everyone! The Bears’ defense reportedly showed out in their first joint practice with Indianapolis, giving the Colts’ offense early and finishing well in the late 2-minute drill. They’re playing with energy, finishing drills, and trash talking throughout practice — Adam Jahns writes that the unit has an ‘edge’, and that’s exactly what they’ll need throughout the 2023 season.
But which players are catalyzing the Bears’ defensive attitude shift? What worked last Saturday? What didn’t? To find out, let’s dissect the opening drive of last weekend’s preseason game and see what Alan Williams and the Bears’ defensive starters are cooking in prep for the 2023 season.
Our first two episodes of Dissecting a Drive covered the offense exclusively, so it’s about time we dive into the Bears’ defensive scheme! Lucky for us, Saturday’s Bears game provided us with a 12-play Tennessee touchdown drive that’s ripe for reviewing.
Keep in mind that because it’s the preseason, this is the most vanilla flavor of the Bears’ defensive structure you’ll see all year. That said, I can confirm that the Bears’ defensive bones are still in place throughout the drive — you’ll see a healthy dose of Cover 3, Cover 2, and Tampa 2 throughout this video and throughout the 2023 season, regardless of how the Bears tailor their calls to each opponent going forward.
In this drive, we see:
- A calmer, much-improved Kyler Gordon
- How Tennessee used pre-snap motion to create leverage for their run blockers
- The good, the bad, and the ugly from Dominique Robinson, Andrew Billings, and Rasheem Green
- Jack Sanborn’s big hits, big misses, and the impact Tremaine Edmunds will have on this defense
- TJ Edwards’ physicality and presence within the Bears’ defense
- How Alan Williams used subtle shifts within the Defensive Line Front to create mismatches for his DTs
- Tyrique Stevenson’s ups and downs
- And much, much more
Check it out and let me know what you think!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLmyL521Ts?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]
TL;DW
Like the last Dissecting a Drive, I plan to post a few clips to Twitter X today and once I do I’ll update this article to include a few of my favorite excerpts.
I LOVE when defenses use little shifts within their front to create matchup advantages — here, by playing both Justin Jones and Andrew Billings tight to the Center, the #Bears create 1-on-1s for both DTs and win the down emphatically.
This is a sweet clip from tomorrow’s… pic.twitter.com/oCaKVuW15M
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) August 16, 2023
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These video are always a lot of fun to put together, so consider giving it a look — in particular, TJ Edwards jumped out as I watched the drive again. I’m also amazed at how the Bears’ run defense may hinge on the play of Andrew Billings and hope he’s up to the task.
Your Turn: What did you think of the way the Bears’ offense evolved late in the year? What do you want to see more of?