The Bears have the best third down defense in football, and it's not particularly close.
Third down is supposed to be the offenses moment. Against the Chicago Bears this season, it's been a dead end. Opponents have converted only 19 of 80 third down attempts against the Bears, a 23.8 percent success rate that is the best mark in the NFL.
Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Chargers have the next fewest third down conversions allowed with 26 on 85 attempts, and a rate of 30.6%. But the Minnesota Vikings have been slightly better, allowing only 27 conversions on 91 attempts, for a 29.7% rate.
The Bears also boast the lowest amount of third downs attempted against them. This suggests that the Bears are routinely preventing their opponents from reaching that point, and it paints the picture of the possession battle.
Possession is a two way street
The Bears offense has rightly gotten credit for leading the league in time of possession per drive. But possession is a two way street, and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's unit has been holding up their end. The Bears get off of the field faster than anyone, and their own offense converts 44.4 percent of their third downs.
The scary part is that Chicago built their third down efficiency before the Jeffery Simmons trade. Simmons arrived and produced six tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, and a pass defended. He routinely draws double-team coverage, freeing up Montez Sweat to push the pocket in a one-on-one rush. The Bears already owned the seventh ranked unit in total defense, and then they went and added an elite tackle to the mix.
Sunday night prime time against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brings a different kind of test. The Bucs are converting 38.4 percent of their third downs, 19th in the league, but it's really their rush that's an issue. They just defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a shutout that featured no completed passes, but a ground game that produced a franchise record 324 yards.
That rush is designed to create third and short scenarios, and from the perspective of the Bears, third and short is much more difficult to defend than third and long.
The Bears have buried teams on third down all season long. But Tampa Bay is built to avoid it, and the collision that decides it comes on Sunday night.
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