Even after the win over the Houston Texans, the Chicago Bears run defense can be brought into question. The team did well enough against Dameon Pierce to get the win, but the reality is that what Pierce does best is not congruent with what the Bears are the worst at.
Pierce is much more of a power running back who gets downhill, and he is not the outside rusher who gets to the tackles. Through two weeks, the Chicago Bears had done okay up the gut, but Elijah Mitchell and Aaron Jones torched them when getting to the outside.
Even Pierce had a better day outside the tackles in week three than he normally does, although it did not become a game-changing issue. Pierce had 12 rushes for 45 yards outside the tackles and just eight for 35 between the tackles.
Those numbers brought the Chicago Bears’ season total to 308 yards on 52 rushes outside and 162 yards on 43 rushes inside. That is a difference of 5.9 to 3.8 from one to the other.
While this was not the matchup for Pierce to take advantage of, one name who may be best for beating the Bears on the ground is Saquon Barkley.
If you ever see Barkley highlights, he is often getting outside the tackles and breaking his big runs down the sideline. He is not a pounder between the tackles, but when he gets out in space, look out.
For the season Barkley has 23 rushes outside the tackles for 170 yards. He has 30 rushes inside the tackles for 147 yards. Barkley is producing in all areas, but 7.4 yards per carry outside the tackle compared to 4.9 yards per carry between the tackles is a stark difference.
Beyond that, what we are seeing is a team that is allowing nearly six yards per rush outside the tackles to take on a running back who is producing over seven yards per rush outside the tackles. There is a chance that Saquon Barkley goes nuts this game, and consistently rips off runs to the outside at a high-efficiency rate.
The team did nothing to change their defense last week, they just played someone less equipped to expose this matchup. This week, there may not be any player more equipped to beat them.