Chicago Bears: 3 takeaways from first preseason game

Aggressive Defense

When Chuck Pagano took over for Vic Fangio as the defensive coordinator of the Bears, there was a thought, among some in the media, that the defensive unit would experience some regression. While not an opinion held by yours truly, the thought was that a change in defensive scheme/philosophy could make for a tough transition.

So one of the things we noted in our pregame piece outlining things to watch for was how the defense would respond, and whether there would be some growing pains as they worked through the transition.

Well, the early returns were fantastic. The defense (made up mostly of second-unit players) played fast and furious in the “wreak havoc” style of play that Pagano favors. There did not appear to be any confusion, miscommunication, or missed assignments.

What we did see was an extremely aggressive defense that flew around the field. In the first two defensive series, the Bears blitzed a total of five times, including one by Roquan Smith on the first series that resulted in a beautiful sack.

Even once all of the starters were out of the game, the second unit played really well, including Deon Bush who was the defensive star of the first half. So if anyone still had the opinion that this defense is going to regress coming into this game, they shouldn’t any longer.