The Chicago Bears' offense has looked much better, as expected, under first-year head coach Ben Johnson. The defense, however, has regressed from the Matt Eberflus era with Dennis Allen at defensive coordinator.
However, to be fair, some of these issues have been due to injuries. The secondary has been absolutely decimated, and the defensive line hasn't fared much better. That's why they probably should've made a move at the trade deadline.
And after watching Jaelan Phillips wreak havoc in his first game with his new team, the fans can't help but feel that Bears GM Ryan Poles dropped the ball right there. Phillips was up for grabs and would've been a massive upgrade for this team.
Bears Will Regret Not Trading For Jaelan Phillips
Phillips looked like a fish in the water in the Philadelphia Eagles' 10-7 win over the Green Bay Packers. He posted a game-high eight pressures and a team-high six stops against the run, including a crucial stuff on Josh Jacobs on 4th-and-1. He also had seven hurries, six tackles, a 19.4 percent pressure rate, and forced and recovered one fumble.
The craziest part about his addition is that the Eagles only had to give the Miami Dolphins a third-round pick to get him. And even though the Bears now have Austin Booker opposite of Montez Sweat, Phillips is the type of budding star that could've elevated the Bears' middle-of-the-pack pass rushing unit.
This team still isn't getting much from Grady Jarrett, and adding Phillips to the mix would've probably given them more flexibility to swap some pieces to get him off the field. The Bears were reportedly tied to Phillips at some point in the season before he ultimately arrived in the City of Brotherly Love.
At some point, NFL teams can't keep allowing Eagles GM Howie Roseman to get away with these types of steals. They did what contending teams ought to do, which is identify an issue and address it at the trade deadline. The Bears, in the meantime, made marginal moves instead.
Chicago has already won more games (six) this season than it did all of last year, and the Bears are clearly trending in the right direction. Still, this defense won't be good enough to hold its own against Super Bowl contenders, and the team will have to make plenty of moves in the offseason if they're serious about competing with this core.