The Chicago Bears' defense wasn't a unit that scared anyone entering the 2025 season, despite the fact that there is some talent on the unit and the defensive coordinator is the experienced Dennis Allen. But the unit has been a pleasant surprise this season -- it's the NFL leader in takeaways as of early Sunday afternoon. It's also been a "bend but don't break" type of unit, and even in games where it has looked inconsistent, it's been able to shut down opposing offenses in crunch time.
And it's done all this while being a M.A.S.H. unit.
Injuries have plagued this defense — it entered the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with all three starting linebackers out — so perhaps the team could've spent more offseason focus on finding defensive depth.
To be fair to the Bears, this level of injuries is unpredictable and unexpected. And the team had many needs to address — the offensive line, the pass rush, the running game, the wide-receiver room — so it's understandable if linebacker and secondary depth were lower on the priority list.
So maybe it's a tad hard to use the term "regret" when circumstances and the salary cap forced the Bears to make hard choices in the offseason. Maybe it's hard to use that word when the level of injuries was probably unforeseeable. But given how well the Bears are playing, it's easy to see why they might regret not being more prepared.
Bears' Lack of Defensive Depth is Cause for Regret
Second-year quarterback Caleb Williams has been inconsistent, but he's shown flashes of why he was a number-one overall pick, and it certainly appears that the arrow is pointing upward, and he's not a bust. The Kyle Monangai draft pick at running back and the retention of D'Andre Swift have worked out well. The wide receiver room is strong, and the revamped offensive line is playing well, too.
The redone pass-rush hasn't improved as much, but Montez Sweat has shown signs of returning to form. The secondary has been a highlight, and the linebacking corps, when healthy, has been quietly competent.
But some things only reveal themselves over time. Or, in this case, when injury strikes. While there's no way the Bears could've known how severe the injury bug would be — or that it would spend at least one week decimating just one position — they probably should've had a backup plan in mind for all positions. Just in case.
Perhaps maybe they did — and that's how they got through such a difficult week against Pittsburgh.
Still, as meticulous as first-year Bears head coach Ben Johnson is, and as much as general manager Ryan Poles has learned on the job, the Bears might be learning to go even deeper in terms of having plans to cover depth when injury strikes. Super Bowl contenders are built with a next-man-up mentality. Chicago shouldn't be any different.
The good news for the Bears is that they could have their cake and eat it, too. If there was any regret over not getting deeper on defense, the players they did have managed to work together to beat the Steelers, and some injured players returned as Chicago took down the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles on Thanksgiving. So Chicago could, in theory, say to itself, "We need to do this next year. We got lucky that it didn't hurt us."
And if learning from that regret ensures that the Bears are in the Super Bowl mix next year and beyond, the current pains will be worth the future success.