Chicago Bears Second Half Checklist
The Bears defense has been a bright spot for this team. I think we all expected the D to carry the team, but I don’t think we expected them to be as good as they have so far this season. We expected the front-7 to be the strength of the team, but it’s the secondary that’s been surprising and exceeded expectations.
A big part of the revamped secondary has been Kyle Fuller. He missed the 2016 season due to injury and most fans had written him off as he seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff. Instead, Fuller has been a revelation. He has been everything the Bears hoped he would be when Phil Emery drafted him in the first round. The worst part of Fuller’s lost season in 2016 is that the Bears didn’t exercise his fifth year option, which means he could become a free agent. If his second half is anything near his first half, the Bears have to make it a priority to bring him back.
Another building block for the defense is another first rounder, OLB Leonard Floyd. He’s shown flashes but hasn’t really exploded yet. He’s been in coverage far too much for my liking. I’d like to see the Bears unleash Floyd and let him do what he does best – chase down the quarterback. He has five sacks on the season, so he’s tracking for double digit sacks. I’d like him to shatter that and get to 15 sacks on the season.
The last thing the Bears need to do in the second half of the season is give Connor Barth the boot. Their placekicker has been absolutely horrible! He has made just 7/11 field goals and his misses loom large. When you want to play the style of football that John Fox wants the Bears to play – run the ball, play good defense and keep the game close – you can’t afford to miss field goals. Barth is not the kicker of the future and he’s not even the kicker of the present in my book.
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The Bears tried to bring in some competition by claiming Roberto Aguayo off waivers when the Bucs cut their former second round draft pick. But he was even worse than Barth, so the Bears sent him on his way. Look for the Bears to address this sooner rather than later, as “Bear weather” is rolling in and will only make it harder on the kicking game.