N/S. How to replicate the Bears defense/How to build a top 5 defense? (1 Viewer)

[NeedforSnead]

They have a lot more splash players than Khalil Mack. They were already top 10 last year and I believe they added Trevathon, Hicks and Roquan Smith in recent years. Fuller is also a baller. I honestly wouldn't categorize it as Khalil making transforming so much as getting them over the hump. Honestly I don't think many teams in the NFL have ever sported top 5 offenses coupled with top 5 defenses, that'd be crazy. Our defense has been nuts the past few weeks but I still feel like we lack pressure sometimes.

Denver D in its prime years was utterly insane, the pocket would just disintegrate every play within a second. I think if Davenport comes around and we found a proper corner or safety then this can be a top 5 defense. I think we ahve a very solid rotation in place and just need elite players.

 

[dvdman]

Who cares about the Bears. The Vikings almost came back on that defense you’re hyping.

 

[7throundpick]

I crunched the numbers a bit to see how our defenses line up relative to the opponents we've played. If my math is correct, here's what I got:

The Bear's opponent's offenses averaged 341.9 yards per game and 21.8 points per game this season. The Bears defense has held teams on average to 319.6 yards per game and 19.4 points per game. That means their defense is allowing their opponents 22.3 less yards and 2.4 less points than the other teams that their opponents played.

The Saints's opponent's offenses averaged 379.8 yards per game and 24.4 points per game this season. The Saints defense has held teams on average to 376.2 yards per game and 25.8 points per game. That means our defense is allowing our opponents 3.6 less yards and 1.4 more points than the other teams that our opponents played.

So that makes the Bears defense about 18.7 yards and 3.9 points better than ours per game (on average), given our relative opponents. However keep in mind that their average opponents record is .41 and ours is .48. So if you look at strength of schedule that makes our defenses closer than you might think.

Now realize that our offense is averaging 50 yards and 7 points more per game and I think our defense is more than adequate. And it seems to be improving weekly.