The Chicago Bears' defense figured to be the strength of the team going into the 2025 season, but it has been anything but that over two games.
After giving up 27 points to J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, the Bears surrendered a whopping 52 points to Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions in Week 2.
Bear in mind, the Lions were awful offensively in Week 1 versus the Green Bay Packers, and McCarthy and Co. looked like a shell of the offense that scored 27 against Chicago in the season-opener, which only makes the defense look worse.
Through two games, the Bears have the 12th-worst pass defense in the league, the sixth-worst run defense and they are giving up the most points per game (39.5).
What makes this showing even worse is the fact that the Bears have spent more money on the defensive side of the ball than most teams in the NFL.
With $125.4 million spent on the defense this year, the Bears rank fifth in spending on that side of the ball. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders are spending more, per Over the Cap.
Injury issues have no doubt played a role. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon didn't play in Week 1, and Johnson exited early with an injury in Week 2 and Gordon didn't suit up at all. Like Johnson, linebacker T.J. Edwards also left early on Sunday after missing the first game.
Adding to the concerns over Johnson and Edwards specifically, both players left the loss to the Lions with the same injuries that kept them out of Week 1, so now there's concern they might miss another game in Week 3, at least.
With the struggles the offense has seen to start the season, there is zero hope for the Bears to make anything out of 2025 if the defense doesn't play much better.
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