Bears DC Alan Williams admits he needs to get more creative

Eddie Jackson’s been part of some nasty, shutdown defenses during his six years with the Bears.

The most impressive were probably in 2018 and 2019 when Matt Nagy’s squads ranked in the top five for fewest points allowed.

Linebackers Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan and Khalil Mack, defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, cornerback Kyle Fuller and Jackson teamed up to frustrate and fluster opposing offenses on a weekly basis.

The last two seasons weren’t as impressive but, for the most part, the Bears held their own.

Now, of course, it’s a completely different story.

With the departures of both Smith (Ravens) and Robert Quinn (Eagles), the defense looks like a shell of its former self. Sitting at his locker, Jackson reflected on this harsh reality Wednesday as the Bears prepared to host the Lions on Sunday.

“Yeah, it’s different. But you don’t think about that,” said Jackson, who replaced Quinn as one of the four captains. “Those teams (in 2018 and ‘19), we had a different group of guys. You know the names.

“Right now we’re just trying to build and continue to get this chemistry going with the guys we do have. We’ve got a lot of young guys on the field; guys that are stepping in and taking on different roles. We’ve got to get used to it and get comfortable playing.”

The transition figured to be difficult on everyone and that’s definitely been the case.

Dallas and Miami didn’t have to worry about Quinn, so they spread out the protection to halt the Bears’ underwhelming defensive line. The Dolphins didn’t have to deal with Smith, so they simply ran Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle into the soft spots of the Bears’ zone defense.

Needless to say, the results were ugly. Dallas piled up 278 yards and 28 points in the first half alone, while Miami scored on four of its first five possessions.

The complete absence of a pass rush is among the biggest problems. So who’s fault is that?

“It’s not just player-driven. Some of it is coordinator driven,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said. “Ultimately, I’m responsible for the pass rush. I have to be creative (in) putting guys in position to extenuate what they do well.

“Some places I need to be more aggressive.”

It sounds so easy.

But that’s not always the case, especially when your unit consists of rookies like safety Jaquan Brisker, cornerback Kyler Gordon, linebacker Jack Sanborn and lineman Dominique Robinson.

Veteran linebacker Nicholas Morrow explained it best, saying that if an opponent shows a dangerous look on a blitz call, a difficult last-second adjustment is likely needed.

Should Morrow call off the blitz? Should he yell an instruction to Sanborn? To Brisker and Gordon? To everyone?

“When you’ve got young guys, it’s kind of hard to get in and out of stuff,” said Morrow, who took over Smith’s job of making the defensive calls. “Sometimes you don’t want to run a pressure against certain looks because they’ve got numbers. So you want to get out of it.

“Now you’ve got to try to communicate. There’s a lot of different things to it.”

Williams doesn’t want to use the “youth factor” as an excuse to not bring pressure. But he did agree with Morrow that sometimes it’s better to keep things simple.

“You don’t want to overload guys that don’t have a lot of reps under their belt,” Williams said. “You want to let them play, you want to let them develop, you want to let them do what they do well.

“You have to be all on the same page, so you don’t throw too much on ‘em. Some of the blitzes, you have to formation adjust.”

This week’s task should be a bit easier as the Lions come in having scored just 48 points in their last four games -- and 27 of those came in a four-point loss to the Dolphins.

That’s not to say Detroit can’t be a problem. RB Jamaal Williams has 10 touchdowns, fellow tailback D’Andre Swift is getting healthier and possesses lethal top-end speed, and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (39 catches, 399 yards) is a dangerous outside threat.

Still, if the Bears’ defense can right the ship and find its mojo, one would figure Matt Eberflus’ squad should walk out victorious.

“Just ready to get back to it,” Jackson said. “Offense has been helping us tremendous(ly). They’ve been doing a lot.

So I feel like we’ve been leaving ‘em out to dry. Now it’s time to get back to it and play our type of ball.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20221110/no-easy-answers-for-bears-defense-dc-williams-admits-he-needs-to-get-more-creative