Bears run defense ready for Bills ground game
Considering the current state of the Chicago Bears defense, it’s a perfect time to be playing the Buffalo Bills.
Then again, it’s always a good time for any defense to face Buffalo’s offense.
The league’s worst passing team, Buffalo has to rely largely on a viable running game to move the ball anywhere. And with Khalil Mack likely hobbled or missing another game, the Bears will be glad to put this one in the hands of their own run defense, which ranks third in the NFL.
“Everybody is doing their job, everybody is playing with good technique and nobody is risking the defense by trying to make a play,” rookie defensive end Bilal Nichols said. “We take big pride in that. We want to continue to stop the ball and stop the run, just be stout in there.”
The Bears have allowed less than 75 yards rushing to five of their seven opponents and are the only NFL team not to give up a rushing touchdown.
Nichols is making big plays even if he isn’t taking risks. He is one of the big reasons the Bears are so stout against the run.
“When he’s gotten in there, he’s done his job,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “And when you do your job, there are going to be some plays made available to you, and he’s capitalized on that. He’s done a nice job.”
A surprise as a fifth-round draft pick out of Delaware, Nichols has gotten more snaps as the season has gone on and is taking playing time from veterans Roy Robertson-Harris and Jonathan Bullard. Nichols has three tackles for loss among his 14 tackles, and also has a half-sack, a forced fumble and a recovery.
And he isn’t the only rookie lending a big hand to stout veteran rush defenders Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman and Danny Trevathan. Although first-round pick Roquan Smith has two sacks, his biggest contribution has been in the run defense – he leads the team with four tackles for loss.
“We want to make each and every team one-dimensional,” Smith said.
There’s no need with Buffalo.
The Bills are averaging 10.9 points and their quarterbacks have a 52.8 passer rating.
The Bills’ only serious threats on offense are backs LeSean “Shady” McCoy and Chris Ivory. It’s Ivory as thunder and McCoy as lightning.
“They’re two different styles of running backs,” Nichols said. “McCoy is a guy who gets you off your zone, gets you moving. We’ve just got to prepare for both. We’ve got to know who’s in the backfield all the time.”
With struggling backup quarterback Nathan Peterman taking over this week due to Derek Anderson’s concussion, it’s possible the Bears will see more Buffalo wildcat formation like the Patriots saw with McCoy taking the snap.
“LeSean’s done that before,” Bears head coach Matt Nagy said. “He’s done that going back to Bishop McDevitt in Pennsylvania in high school. I got to see him do it.
“It looked like that was something that they were cooking up to do for that game. I don’t know if that’s something that they’re going to get ready for this game.”
The Bears defense dominated the Jets and rookie quarterback Sam Darnold last week. Considering the foot injury suffered by guard Kyle Long, the offense could use another day with a lot of help.
Long is out for six to eight weeks due to an injury Nagy categorized as involving a tendon or tendons. Guards James Daniels and Eric Kush will start, after the two had been alternating at left guard when Long was available.
“I hope the best for him,” center Cody Whitehair said. “I think we’ve got the right guys to step in. He’ll be missed with the physicality he plays with and just the passion he plays with.”
Nagy is trying to make certain there is no letdown this week, especially after the Bears experienced something like that against Miami in a road loss earlier.
“There’s just way too much parity,” Nagy said. “Anybody that looked at an 0-2 Bills team going into that Vikings game thought the same thing and look what happened.”
Buffalo won that Week 3 game 27-6.
“We don’t think that way so I’m not going to let our players think that way,” Nagy said. “In that (Minnesota) game, I thought that Buffalo did a good job coming into it just with an attack mode. They came to play football. I just know from playing this team over the years that that’s how they do it. When you play them, especially at home, when you play them in their place, it’s very rowdy, it’s very loud, they’re on top of you, they love their football.”
The Bears got into trouble against Miami and New England, and in both they failed to stop the run.
“We just showed that in those two losses we didn’t play our brand of football,” Nichols said.
They can’t afford to play any other way if they want to have a head start on the rest of the division when they start the second half of the season next week with Detroit, the first of five divisional games remaining.
SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Bears lead series 7-5. The Bills won the last game in 2014, 23-20 in overtime in Chicago. The Bears won the last game played in Buffalo, 22-19 in 2010.