The Chicago Bears defense has picked up right where they left off to start the 2024 season.
Through five weeks, the Bears are fifth in points per game allowed, seventh in total yards per game allowed, and third in total takeaways.
The unit, led by head coach Matt Eberflus and defensive coordinator Eric Washington, is just getting started and the level of success stems from a surprising unit.
Going into the 2024 season, a lot of people were skeptical about how the Bears defensive line would perform, outside of Pro Bowl edge rusher Montez Sweat. Through five weeks, the front has been the strength of the defense and Sweat largely hasn't made much of an impact on the stat sheet.
The real difference makers on the Bears defensive line have instead come from the interior defenders, not the edge rushers like everyone expected. According to Washington, the interior of the defensive line is where the install of a four-man rush starts, especially at the nose tackle position.
The man anchoring that role has been Andrew Billings, who joined the Bears in 2023 and quickly earned a two-year extension with the team. In his first season under Washington's guidance, Billings has taken his game to a whole new level.
"In this system, we need him," Washington explained on Thursday. "Credit to Andrew, he's really improved. He's taken it upon himself to identify certain aspects of his game that he wanted to improve and increase. He's really done a nice job of that."
One of those improvement areas Billings wanted to focus on was his consistency rushing the passer. Through the first five weeks of the season, Billings has an 82.4 PFF pass rush grade (tied for the 5th-highest among interior defensive linemen) and a 14.1 win percentage (13th among interior defensive linemen)."
In this system, the Bears are asking a lot of out Billings and he's answering the call every time, even if that means dropping into coverage like he did in Week 5.
"He has the requisite quickness, he's a big man, he's a powerful man, and we need him to anchor the point of attack," Washington added. "We ask our nose tackle to cover from their alignment to the sideline, we ask them to collapse the pocket, we ask them to help us create population at the point of attack vs. screen plays, and he can do all of those things. He takes pride in his versatility and his overall skill set."
The man playing beside him, second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., has been equally as impressive through five weeks. Dexter was the talk of the offseason after transforming his body hoping to improve upon a subpar rookie season.
It only took four games for Dexter to surpass his 2023 sack number and he currently leads the defense with four sacks entering Week 6.
"He's done really well for us and really it's about the work ethic," Eberflus said on Wednesday. "Obviously, you see how big Gervon is and all those things in athletic and all that. But to me, it's about the work he's put in. He's really worked himself into the position he's in. So, his execution and his production is really no surprise to me this far in the year, and I really believe that he's going to take some bigger strides, because he continues to work with great determination, every single day."
Just like Billings, Dexter's development was expected to skyrocket playing under Washington, who's become known as a defensive line master mind. It's no surprise to see the clear improvement on the field, but don't discredit the work Dexter put in.
"His assignments have almost been flawless," Washington said about Dexter. "There's been no issues as far as him not being in a position to execute, that allows you to play extremely fast, and when you can do that the production is soon to follow."
By having such a dominant interior attack from those to players, it lessens the load for the rest of the defense. The edge rushers aren't pressured to hit home every play and the secondary can take advantage of facing a quarterback dealing with a pocket that's always collapsing.
Billings and Dexter have been a huge factor this season for the Bears and a main reason why this defense is playing at such a high level.
