James Bettcher

As Bart Scott discussed on WFAN, James Bettcher needs to scheme to his personnel’s strengths, not make them adjust to his defense. Scott also suggested they switch back to a 4-3 in order to have three athletes at the second level in space with Deon Buchanan, Alec Ogeltree, and Lorenzo Carter. In front of them, Dexter Lawrence and Dalvin Tomlinson would plug up the middle, while Markus Golden and Leonard Williams could rush with their hands on the ground at the end position.

In the secondary, Janoris Jenkins and struggling rookie corner DeAndre Baker play better when lining up closer to the line of scrimmage as opposed to Bettcher’s 8-10 yards off the ball scheme. Sam Beal will also see his snaps increase on the outside and could replace Baker if he continues to struggle. Corey Ballentine has taken over for Grant Haley as the starting slot corner. The hope is, he will continue to progress as the season winds down.

From a safety standpoint, Jabrill Peppers has shown he is better suited when roaming around the line of scrimmage in a similar role as Landon Collins previously played. Grant Haley has also shown the ability to thrive in this position, as well.

As for the center fielders, Antoine Bethea has looked to have lost a step despite recording an interception and fumble recovery in his last two games. Bettcher mentioned rookie Julian Love is very close to seeing his snaps increase at free safety and it will be interesting to see if he steals away playing time from Bethea. Keep in mind, Love was also up for the Jim Thorpe award with Baker last year and is no slouch. Love led the NCAA in pass breakups over the final two years of his college career.

The Bears have the 30th-ranked passing offense averaging 182 yards in the air per game. Mitchell Trubisky has struggled mightily (9 TD, 4 INT, 1,580 yards). Their rush offense hasn’t been much better coming in at 29th with only 79.9 yards on the ground each week. The ball is now in James Bettcher’s court to take advantage of a struggling group.

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