Chicago Bears Can Trust Vic Fangio With Pass Rush Issue

The Chicago Bears had a top 10 defense for the first time since 2012 last season. The question is can they repeat their success again in 2018?

They certainly have a lot of talent. Kyle Fuller returns on a new contract to become their primary cornerback with Prince Amukamara settled in across from him. Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos developed into an underrated safety tandem. Danny Trevathan finally appears healthy at inside linebacker and will be joined by highly-touted 1st round pick Roquan Smith.

The biggest wild car though is their pass rush. Akiem Hicks was tremendous for them in 2017 with seven sacks but they can’t expect him to do it alone. Leonard Floyd has flashed the potential for being dominant off the edge but injuries continue to hamper his progress. As a rookie it was concussions and last year it was a freak knee accident.

Outside of those two? Nobody is sure what the Bears have. Eddie Goldman is primarily a nose tackle. Roy Robertson-Harris and Jonathan Bullard are untested as starters. Aaron Lynch had 2.5 sacks the past two years and is already dealing with hamstring issues. Rookie Kylie Fitts has potential but also health concerns. Isaiah Irving hardly played as an undrafted free agent last year.

Tons of question marks. If this defense expects to be a top 10 unit again, it shouldn’t have a glaring issue like this. Is it one though? Based on the track record of their coordinator, Vic Fangio it might be okay to trust that the Bears will be alright.

Vic Fangio has dealt with this sort of problem many times before

One thing that revealed itself is that Fangio is rather adept at “manufacturing” sacks on defense. Whenever he hasn’t had a strong group of pass rushers, he’s found ways to get quarterback pressure by sending a variety of different players at the problem. One will find the list of names with at least one sack stretching 13 at some point.

Going back over his worst defensive seasons, all of which came during his runs in Indianapolis and Houston from 1999 through 2005, even then he managed a respectable pass rush. Of the six seasons marked, four of them saw the defense get at least 37 sacks. Only two finished with less (19 and 24). For those wondering, 37 sacks would’ve tied for 17th in the league last season. Not great, but not terrible either.

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Make no mistake. The Bears absolutely need to get better at the pass rush position. This is something they’re likely to tackle next offseason unless an unexpected trade opportunity arises. Until then they have to ride the horse of Floyd and Hicks and hope a few others are able to step up. Mix that with some crafty Fangio scheming and things should be okay.