Chicago Bears Week 3 vs Browns: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

The one phase that has been the most consistent with the Chicago Bears throughout their history has been their defense. The final score may not indicate it, but Chicago’s defensive unit did their job. The defense kept it a close game for the first three quarters, entering the final quarter trailing by just seven points. Unfortunately, Khalil Mack and company didn’t get the help they needed from the other side of the ball.

The shining point for the Bears on Sunday was their pass rush. For the second week in a row, Chicago ended the game by recording five sacks, with two of them coming from Mack (despite an injured foot sustained earlier in the game).

Fellow outside linebacker Robert Quinn continued to show massive improvement from last season by adding 1.5 sacks of his own. Inside linebacker Roquan Smith was all over the field with a game-high nine tackles.

Unfortunately, Chicago’s defense was only able to bend for so long, and eventually broke. Thanks to the fact that the Bears lost the lopsided time of possession battle with the Browns, with Cleveland holding the ball for virtually 40 minutes of the 60-minute contest.

It seems as if the Bears’ defense has carried this team season after season over the past few decades. At some point, this trend has to come to an end if they want to make it back to the postseason. If it doesn’t, then this will be a waste of one of arguably the best defenses that have ever come to the Windy City.