Bears Defense Learning Some New Tricks Under Chuck Pagano
By Max Scoli
After a disappointing end to the Chicago Bears' 2018 campaign with a Wild Card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the team decided to hire Chuck Pagano as its new defensive coordinator.
Pagano has begun to deploy some new defensive strategies in practice, much to the liking of head coach Matt Nagy.
Bears "seeing some different looks" with Chuck Pagano running defense https://t.co/SqtTDq0pnt
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 22, 2019
Although he wouldn't divulge specifics, Nagy said "I have zero concerns. It’s going to be exciting. We are seeing some different looks out there that we haven’t seen with Vic. It’s been neat."
There has been a bit of an adjustment period for the Bears defense with some of these new schemes, but it appears that Chuck Pagano trusts the process in this quote:
"You can tell we’ve thrown a lot at them," Pagano said. "That’s on purpose. We’re seeing what sticks. We’re throwing a lot of mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. But they’ve done a great job. There’s good retention."
- Chuck Pagano
But could changing too much be detrimental? The Bears ranked No. 1 in the NFL in takeaways (36), interceptions (27), and rushing touchdowns allowed (5) during the 2018 season.
It appears that Chicago's defense continues to improve though, securing the talents of HaHa Clinton-Dix to bolster the team's secondary.
Interesting tidbit from today: when the #Bears hosted Ha Ha Clinton-Dix for a free-agent visit, Eddie Jackson said that he and Mitch Trubisky walked into the office and convinced him to sign, essentially by highlighting what it’s like to play for Matt Nagy.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) May 22, 2019
The pressure to repeat the outstanding season-long performance by Chicago's defense will be immense, but the Bears have all the tools within their organization to potentially become Super Bowl contenders.