its crazy because he legit had a elite defense in chicago & then went to Seattle with Pete. rn he is coach like he has never ran a defense. he has no feel for the game or what to call in the right moment's.
Elite though? Only in two stats.
The 5-12 Panthers allowed the 2nd least yards that season and the 4th least pass yards. The Bears were ranked 6th in total yards and 3rd in pass yards. These teams were #1 and #2 in pass attempts faced. Their offenses were tied for #2 in turnovers lost (one turnover behind the Giants). Both run defenses were in the bottom half of the league. Both were one of 12 teams to allow 400+ points.
I say all that to say, context matters. Those defenses didn't have as much field to cover as other teams (they were last and 4th worst in opposing starting field position) and in the majority of metrics, they were either the worst or in the bottom half of the rankings.
For the Bears, all of this happened while they had some blue chip players in the front 7. Roquan being Roquan, Khalil Mack averaging a sack a game for the half season he played and our old pal Robert Quinn having a 18.5 sack season.
Believe it or not, outside of total yards allowed, our defense this season is comparable to the 2021 Bears defense. Yards per play, turnover ranking, points allowed ranking, You can take that as a good thing if you feel that 2021 defense was elite, or a bad thing if you delve deeper into the numbers and context.
I just checked the 2022 Seahawks out of curiosity.. they were a poor defense by most metrics too, except turnovers.
