The blame for this loss belongs to the defense. But I don’t give it to the entire defense. I give it mainly to the rushing defense. Go back to the Patriots game. They had only 70 yards rushing and averaged 3.7 ypc. That forced them to pass, and our secondary contained them quite well.
By contrast, the Cowboys had 200 yards rushing and averaged 7 ypc. That’s a killer. It opened up the passing game for them in combination with some bad coverage on a few plays. But even so, despite the running success, they had 242 yards passing, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. That is respectable passing, but that is not going to get anywhere close to 49 points.
Whatever else Poles does in 2023 with his $100 million, he must rebuild the defensive front line that he tore down.
The one thing I will always remember about this season is that the Chicago Bears had the best rushing offense in the NFL and the worst rushing defense in the NFL. I know this is only week #8, but it sure is headed that direction.
You have to go back to the Gale Sayers era of 1968 as the last time the Bears had 200+ rushing yards in three consecutive games.
By contrast, the Cowboys had 200 yards rushing and averaged 7 ypc. That’s a killer. It opened up the passing game for them in combination with some bad coverage on a few plays. But even so, despite the running success, they had 242 yards passing, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. That is respectable passing, but that is not going to get anywhere close to 49 points.
Whatever else Poles does in 2023 with his $100 million, he must rebuild the defensive front line that he tore down.
The one thing I will always remember about this season is that the Chicago Bears had the best rushing offense in the NFL and the worst rushing defense in the NFL. I know this is only week #8, but it sure is headed that direction.
You have to go back to the Gale Sayers era of 1968 as the last time the Bears had 200+ rushing yards in three consecutive games.