These three Chicago Bears laid duds vs the Cardinals in Week 13
Chicago Bears Week 13 Dud No. 3: Pass Rush
First off, many defenses have a hard time containing Kyler Murray and the Cardinals’ offense. It is one of the best in the league and there is a reason the team is 10-2. Still, the defense was not able to get many stops today and the Cardinals got pretty much whatever they wanted throughout most of the game. A lot of that has to do with the lack of pass rush today.
The Bears did not bring down Kyler Murray at all today and they were not able to contain the scrambling quarterback well either. Two rushing touchdowns on the day, both untouched, gave a good demonstration of how Murray was able to navigate the line of scrimmage and use his athleticism against the pass rush.
Robert Quinn, coming off of a 3.5 sack game against the Lions, was not a factor in today’s game. The Bears need him to be great in order to provide any spark of life into a defense that is hampered by injuries. He was not able to get to Murray in time while in the pocket, and on contain plays he got outmaneuvered and Murray was just too fast.
A big thing was the edge speed the Bears lack. Quinn is not going to chase down Murray once he gets the edge, and Trevis Gipson is decently athletic but lacks the traits to be able to seal the edge to stop an outside scramble. This is where the Bears miss the athleticism of Khalil Mack who can use his speed and strength to contain a fast runner, especially a quarterback.
Even if you do not sack Murray, containing him in the pocket is key in order to give the defensive backs a chance. There were a few plays where the coverage was good but Murray understood there was man coverage so that means there was nobody on the spy. As the league moves towards high-volume runners at the quarterback position, Sean Desai will have to adjust his schemes to contain these players.
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The Chicago Bears gave a sloppy effort at home against the Arizona Cardinals, and as a result, they fall to 4-8 on the season, and any slim playoff hopes seem to have died. These unforced errors need to stop, and the team needs to just execute better as a whole. Onto Green Bay…