The Chicago Bears are now ten games into the 2023 season. The team is sitting at 3-7, but they are playing some of their best football as of late. While the playoffs are a long shot, there are plenty of things to be hopeful about over the back end of the schedule. What can fans root for?
5. The Chicago Bears hope to see more from their pass rush to close the season
The Chicago Bears pass rush has been abysmal this year. They currently rank 31st in pressure generated and 32nd in sacks. That includes the three-sack game they just completed on Thursday. This pass rush has a lot of work to do.
Luckily for them, the Bears did some work on it. They added Montez Sweat, which is a game-changing weapon. Sweat already has ten pressures per PFF, and his pressure rate is about on par with what he did with the Commanders.
Sweat came onto the team cold and faced Ryan Ramcyzk, one of the better tackles in the NFL. Then, on a short turnaround, he saw Taylor Moton, who is well above average as well. Now, Sweat gets some time to adjust to the defense, and he gets easier right tackle matchups. This could go well.
Sweat has allowed the Bears to move DeMarcus Walker around more. He can upgrade Yannick Ngakoue on run-downs and upgrade Andrew Billings on passing-downs.
Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens do not get much benefit of the doubt right now, but if either can take a bit of a step in the back half of their rookie season, this defensive line may be cooking toward the end. Can they at least get the 16.5% pressure rate up to 20%? That is the hope right now.
4. The Chicago Bears hope to get answers on Justin Fields
The entire point of the 2023 season was to find a resolution on the Justin Fields saga. The Bears passed up the number one overall to give Justin Fields a chance with an improved group around him.
It took some time for that group to come together, and once things started to form around the quarterback, Fields got hurt.
So, now the roster is looking a bit better, but we still do not have answers on Justin Fields. With three wins, the Bears are creeping out of the number one overall pick discussion, but they still have the Panthers pick, and they are the front runners. What can Justin Fields do to prove he should stick around?
The stats are fine, but he needs to win. If they finish 4-3, they could get to 7-10, which is relatively respectable and more in line with expectations before the year. You wanted to see Fields smash expectations, but there are still ways for him to meet or get close to them. Is that enough? Fans can at least get hopeful at the idea of the Bears having their best offensive line, skill players, and defense around Fields over the final seven games.
3. The Chicago Bears hope to have their secondary strong
The Chicago Bears secondary was supposed to be the best unit on the roster. The Bears have Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Eddie Jackson, and Jaquan Brisker. Ryan Poles drafted three of them in the second round, Jackson has a hefty price tag, and Johnson is about to sign for big money. This should be the best unit on the roster. Through ten weeks, it has been one of the worst.
However, Gordon broke his hand, Johnson had a hamstring injury, Eddie Jackson had multiple foot injuries, Tyrique Stevenson has left three games due to an issue, and Jaquan Brisker has been in and out during games and eventually missed two games as well.
The Bears' secondary could not stay healthy. That is, until week 10. In week 10, we saw the Bears start and finish a game with their intended top five for the first time all season. It was Bryce Young, but the Panthers’ offense did not score a touchdown.
The timing is great with Detroit coming because that will be a real test for this secondary. If this group finishes strong, it could completely flip this team around. They are all healthy and have this extra time off to make a run. This could be exciting.
2. The Chicago Bears are hoping to find building blocks on the offensive line
The Chicago Bears' offensive line has been similar to the secondary. Healthy has not been on their side. However, it is starting to look like things are shaping up.
Darnell Wright is a rookie but appears to be a gem with a bright future ahead. Teven Jenkins missed the first four weeks of the season, but since he has returned, he has ignited the run blocking on this team.
Braxton Jones was out since week two with a neck injury. He returned in week nine and played a full game in week 10. Now, he can rest and play his best football in week 11. Even better than that, Nate Davis practiced this week.
Davis had a personal issue hold him out of most of the off-season work. He was rusty and injured early on, and after a strong performance in week five, an injury has held him up since. If they get him back, and they have Jenkins, Jones, and Wright playing their best down the stretch, the unit actually looks okay on paper.
At center, Cody Whitehair is not the answer, but he is better than Lucas Patrick. The Bears will take that small upgrade.
This goes back to there still being time for Justin Fields to make noise and save his job. He may finally have an offensive line that either helps him get to what we thought he could be or it exposes the reality that the Bears have to move on.
1. The Chicago Bears hope Tremaine Edmunds is not a complete dud
One of the more fascinating notes from the past two weeks has been the defensive improvement. As we highlighted, this makes sense when the secondary is fully healthy, and Montez Sweat gets dumped in. However, it stings because the Bears are still without Tremaine Edmunds, the big free agent signing.
It is just weird timing that once Edmunds left, they got healthy everywhere else and started to play better. However, if you watch Jack Sanborn after watching Edmunds, it is hard to say if the prize free-agent is much better than the second-year UDFA linebacker. That is alarming.
The Chicago Bears have to hope that Edmunds can get healthy and finish the season strong. All of the pieces around him are now in place, and maybe we can see why the team signed him. He is not going anywhere due to his contract, but as it stands now, he has been more of a liability than a helper. Does this change in the final two months of the year? Fans have to hope.