The Chicago Bears Position Group Totally Disrespected by Ratings.
In the world of football analytics, sometimes up is down and down is up, good is bad.
It’s bizzarro football world, as comic book geeks might say.
Take the Pro Football Focus rankings for secondaries and offensive lines, for instance.
Few would look at the performance of the Bears offensive line and suggest they are a group in the top half of the league. After allowing 50 sacks or more for three straight seasons and improving personnel by acquiring only two lower-rated centers, they were still ranked 10 spots higher than last year by PFF at 11th.
Meanwhile, the Bears secondary triggered a second-half 2023 surge with:
16 interceptions of a season’s total of 22, tied for best in the league;
a passer rating allowed over the final 10 weeks of 75.7, third best for the entire league in that span.
Yet, PFF’s rating for secondaries has come out this week and the Bears are ranked 19th in the NFL. They are behind both the Packers and Lions in the NFC North.
This certainly will not go unnoticed at Halas Hall, where the defense—and especially defensive backs—have a habit of thriving on disrespect.
Throughout the offseason work they expressed certainty the entire secondary would be starting at a high point this season.
