The Chicago Bears continue their impressive run of winning close games, extending their win streak to four games and improving their record to 8-3. Despite a litany of injuries on the defensive end, the Bears still found a way in Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers to come away with the win. The concerns in several areas, however, persist. One of the most frustrating areas of concern is the run defense, as the team is seemingly ignoring an obvious fix.
The Bears gave up 186 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and 5.2 yards per carry to Pittsburgh on Sunday. This was the second-most yards on the ground Chicago allowed all season. After 12 weeks, the Bears have given up the fifth-most rushing yards per game (138.1) and allowed the third-most yards per carry (5.2) in the NFL. One of the primary reasons behind these run woes has been the struggles of Grady Jarrett.
Grady Jarrett Is Hurting the Bears' Run Defense
After dealing with early-season injuries, Jarrett has been consistently available over the last five weeks. It's hard to say that he has been worth the three-year, $43.5 million deal he signed in the offseason, but he has been fine. He has 17 tackles and five QB hits in eight games, receiving a 52.5 defensive grade on Pro Football Focus. The real problem is his run defense, where he has received grades of 47.4, 54.1, 29.4, 60.8, and 48.2 in his last five games, only generating one stop during that stretch. His 41.3 run defense grade for the season leaves plenty to be desired.
It has been a couple of weeks since Chris Williams has been showing flashes as a solid run defender. An under-the-radar defender since he arrived in Chicago last season, Williams has been better than expected in his opportunities this season.
Williams has had better run defense grades on PFF than Jarrett in each of his last three games. Yet, he continues to be seldom-used as a run defender as the Bears trust him more as a situational pass rusher. Against the Steelers, he played 11 snaps as a pass rusher and only five as a run defender, even though he has been faring better as a run stuffer with grades of 60.0, 66.8, and 60.7 in his last three outings.
Williams' emergence may be attributed to a small sample size, but Jarrett's struggles have been ongoing for a while. He has long been more effective as a situational pass rusher than a run defender, even going back to his days in Atlanta. The Bears need to find a way to mitigate this weakness in Jarrett's game, and giving Williams more of a look could be a good place to start.