It’s been eight quarters the Chicago Bears have played in, and for three of them, the defense looked like it would be the one to produce this season consistently. But in the last five quarters, Chicago’s defense has let up 73 points and a total of 765 yards.

Currently, the Bears’ defense is allowing a league-leading 39.5 points per game, 382.5 yards per game, and 234 passing yards per game. In the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago’s defense allowed 21 points, but poor offensive execution was added to the loss.

This past Sunday, in the Bears’ first road game of the season, every aspect of the defense was exposed by the Detroit Lions, which has raised questions heading into week three. Detroit’s 52 points were the most points allowed by the Bears since 2014.

Jared Goff and the Lions offense, coming off a one-touchdown performance in week 1, scored seven touchdowns and had an 8.8 yards per play, which was Chicago’s worst rate in a game since 1961.

It has now been back-to-back weeks that the quarterback who has played the Bears has won the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. JJ McCarthy won the award in week 1, and Goff won the award after his five-touchdown and 334-yard passing game.

Despite the heavy criticism the Bears’ offense has received, their performance on Sunday wasn’t the reason Chicago lost and are now 0-2.

The problems for the Bears stem from an array of defensive struggles, from a lack of pressure on the quarterback to poor secondary play, but one key factor is the health of the Bears’ defense. In week 1, linebacker T.J. Edwards didn’t play, nor did cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson or Kyler Gordan. Chicago’s backup nickel corner, Josh Blackwell, was also absent.

Johnson and Edwards returned for Chicago in the week 2 game against Detroit, but both reinjured their week one injuries and left the game on Sunday. Johnson is reported to be out indefinitely after going down in the second quarter with a groin injury. Chicago is weighing options for its recovery, which include surgery. Edwards left the game, reinjuring his hamstring, and is considered “week to week,” according to head coach Ben Johnson.

“A lot of the things are fixable, if not everything,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “It really wasn’t that difficult to find out what the problem was. We just have to execute at a high level and fix it.”

Detroit had its way against the Bears’ defense, and it had much to do with the lack of pressure provided by Chicago’s front seven. Chicago had one sack from Montez Sweat, which was called back due to a penalty.

“We did not have any sacks,” Ben Johnson said. “We didn’t get any quarterback hits or pressures, not to the amount that we wanted to.”

Coming into the season, based on last season’s performance, there was a need opposite of Sweat to provide a pass rush attack. Chicago added Jarrett on a three-year, $43.5 million contract, and also signed Dayo Odeyingbo on a three-year, $48 million deal. Although it has just been two games, the lack of production is off to a slow start for both players.

Odeyingbo has 26 pass rush losses without a pass rush win, which is tied for the seventh most by any player this season, and the same third-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., who also has 26 pass rush losses without a win, according to ESPN. Jarrett’s 12% pass rush win rate ranks 4th out of 133 players with 30 pass rushers.

The lack of production isn’t just coming from the newcomers to the Bears’ roster; Sweat has also been lackluster since arriving with the Bears in 2023. After arriving at the trade deadline, Sweat collected 6.5 sacks (for a total of 12.5 from his time in Washington) and was named to the Pro Bowl that season.

Chicago rewarded Sweat by paying him after the 2023 season, extending him on a four-year $98 million contract, with an annual salary of $24.5 million. Last season, through 16 games, Sweat only accounted for 5.5 sacks.

“I think the one thing, the one area he’s hearing from our coaches right now is when he does get one-on-one opportunities, whether it’s with tackles or the tight ends, we’d like to see him capitalize on those a little more. It’s few and far between that they’re singling him up, but we would like to see him get to the quarterback.”

In 2024, Chicago finished fourth in the NFL in pressures (33.6%) and 24th in pass rush win rate (36.5%).

Recently hired defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has a track record of generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks through various stunts and blitzes. Headed into week 3, welcoming the Dallas Cowboys, who are coming off a 40-37 overtime win against the Giants, have the potential to be an explosive offense. Quarterback Dad Prescott is currently fifth in the NFL with 549 passing yards. Dallas had a total of 478 yards of offense last Sunday.

In the America’s Game of the Week slate of FOX Chicago will be under the spotlight once again, and so will the pass rush and total defense.

“We brought in Dennis Allen for a reason — he does a phenomenal job coaching it to not only the coaches but the players,” Johnson said. “I got a lot of faith and confidence that he experience we have on that side of the ball is gonna shine through for us, and we’ll get this thing back cranking the way we want it to go.”

Wednesday injury report

The first injury report of the week was released, featuring a total of five players who did not practice. Edwards (hamstring), Gordan (hamstring), Johnson (Groin), Jarrett (Knee), and Jaylon Jones (Hamstring) all practiced on Wednesday.

Those that were limited featured: Kiran Amegadkie (Elbow), D’Marco Jackson (Hamstring), D’Andre Swift (Quad), and Jahdae Walker (Ankle).