Chicago Bears: Heads should roll at Halas Hall after playoff exit
By Ryan Heckman
Chuck Pagano must never coach for the Chicago Bears again
Raise your hand if you have wondered where on earth the 2018 Bears defense has gone. If you don’t know the lone, single answer to the question, you haven’t been watching close enough the past two years.
This defense because worse the minute Chuck Pagano took over for Vic Fangio. While Pagano is a lovable guy and a player’s coach, his philosophies simply do not work with this group — and maybe not at all anymore in today’s NFL.
If you’re like me, you’ve seen far too many instances of defensive backs laying off the line of scrimmage and allowing receivers to have anything they want underneath. It’s been a smorgasbord for opposing quarterbacks between 5-15 yards.
Related Story. Bears: One drive spoke volumes about Trubisky vs. NO. light
Coupled with soft coverage, Pagano has rarely used the blitz. This is the unit to blitz with, too, but he just doesn’t take advantage. With guys back there like Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller waiting to go up and grab errant throws, there haven’t been many of them because Pagano loves his four-man rush.
To top it all off, once again, missed tackles have been more apparent this year than in the last several years. Shockingly, they’ve come from some of the better players on this defense, too, like Jackson. It’s been strange to watch Jackson take such a step back in many aspects of his game, and you have to wonder if it’s because he’s not comfortable in Pagano’s scheme.
Chicago needs a defensive coordinator who will use these guys correctly. Get in the quarterback’s face and take some risks. Allow your secondary to take the ball away and make big plays. Pagano has not and will not do that.