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Can you feel it? Football is really back and in the air. A new college football video game has finally been released after more than a decade and NFL training camps are opening up. This is the one of the best times of the year, which calls for a Four Verts column to kick off training camp and preview the first four teams to open full camp, each with high expectations of their own.
Chicago is slowly rebuilding the Monsters of the Midway
Ok, maybe this headline is a bit hyperbolic, but the point is that the Bears defense should be pretty damn good this year. Last season it got off to a rough start; according to rbsdm.com, the Bears defense ranked 31st in expected points allowed per play (0.223) over the first four weeks. Only the Broncos were worse in that timespan, which included Denver giving up 70 points to the Dolphins. That’s how bad it was for the Bears — but things changed.
Linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards started playing like the big-ticket free agents they were, the Bears got some solid play out of their young secondary, and depth started to develop along the defensive line. Their defensive performance really picked up when Chicago sent a second-round pick to the Commanders for pass rusher Montez Sweat, who immediately made a major positive impact. Over the final nine games of the season where they had Sweat last year, the Bears ranked fifth in expected points allowed per play (-0.110).
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That’s a massive improvement, and it’s the kind of improvement that head coach Matt Eberflus needed in order to keep fans and analysts from calling for his job. If his defense is going to perform comparably to their late-season performance from 2023, the Bears have a chance to put forth their most memorable season in a very long time. Each level of the defense now has reliable playmakers. Sweat on the line, Edmunds and Edwards at the second level, and Jaquon Brisker, Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/four-verts-as-nfl-training-camp-kicks-off-bears-d-looks-monstrous-while-ravens-hopes-rest-on-lamar-henry-combo-194230203.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-17 19:42:30
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