Matt Eberflus was very pleased with this particular aspect of the defense on Thursday Night
While the Bears' defense was not perfect on Thursday, it played very nicely and it was far from the biggest reason why Chicago lost to the Commanders.
Indeed, Larry Mayer reported that HC Matt Eberflus was very satisfied with his defense, especially on thrid downs.
Eberflus was pleased that more frequent blitzes by the Bears' defense resulted in improved efficiency on third down.
After allowing the Vikings to convert 8-of-12 third-down opportunities last Sunday, the Bears held the Commanders to 2-of-11 on third down due in part to successful blitzes. On each of Washington's first two drives, third-down blitzes resulted in sacks by safety Jaquan Brisker and linebacker Roquan Smith. Blitzing linebacker Nicholas Morrow later pressured quarterback Carson Wentz into a third-down incompletion, forcing another punt.
"We didn't play very good on third down the week before," Eberflus said. "We looked at what we were doing and you put your heads together and you come up with a plan�and whatever plan that we think is best for that particular team. They were, what, 18 percent on third down last night? I thought the guys did a nice job."
One reason the Bears blitzed more Thursday night is that their front four has failed to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback this season. Through six games, defensive linemen have combined to generate just 7.5 sacks: Justin Jones (2.0), Trevis Gipson (2.0), Dominique Robinson (1.5), Robert Quinn (1.0) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (1.0).
"Never satisfied with the pass rush," Eberflus said. "Always got to be better. I thought we did a good job getting some sacks. Some of those were pressures that we called on third down certainly, but we'll just look at it and evaluate that going forward. Sack numbers need to be up a little bit more and the pressure numbers need to be up too."
After allowing the Vikings to convert 8-of-12 third-down opportunities last Sunday, the Bears held the Commanders to 2-of-11 on third down due in part to successful blitzes. On each of Washington's first two drives, third-down blitzes resulted in sacks by safety Jaquan Brisker and linebacker Roquan Smith. Blitzing linebacker Nicholas Morrow later pressured quarterback Carson Wentz into a third-down incompletion, forcing another punt.
"We didn't play very good on third down the week before," Eberflus said. "We looked at what we were doing and you put your heads together and you come up with a plan�and whatever plan that we think is best for that particular team. They were, what, 18 percent on third down last night? I thought the guys did a nice job."
One reason the Bears blitzed more Thursday night is that their front four has failed to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback this season. Through six games, defensive linemen have combined to generate just 7.5 sacks: Justin Jones (2.0), Trevis Gipson (2.0), Dominique Robinson (1.5), Robert Quinn (1.0) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (1.0).
"Never satisfied with the pass rush," Eberflus said. "Always got to be better. I thought we did a good job getting some sacks. Some of those were pressures that we called on third down certainly, but we'll just look at it and evaluate that going forward. Sack numbers need to be up a little bit more and the pressure numbers need to be up too."
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