Five Things PFF Metrics Tell Us About 2018 Bears............

LAKE FOREST, IL – JANUARY 09: General manager Ryan Pace of the Chicago Bears speaks to the media during an introductory press conference for new head coach Matt Nagy at Halas Hall on January 9, 2018 in Lake Forest, Illinois.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

(via Pro Football Focus)

One of the data points PFF tracks is yards after contact for ball-carriers, but they’re also able to flip that to the other side of the ball and see which defenses are allowing extra yardage.

Their charting says the Bears defense was the best in this department, allowing the fewest yards after contact per rush attempt of any team in 2017.

This type of stat is truly team-wide and impossible to pin on any individuals. It requires defensive linemen doing their jobs and taking on blocks to free up linebackers to get to the ball carriers.

It also takes defensive backs who aren’t afraid to get physical and wrap up a running back, or even just jump on the tackling pile started by another defender.

Limiting yards after contact would seem to be a defensive identity Vic Fangio was able to instill. With nine of 11 starters returning for 2018, this is a stat the team should be able to maintain to some degree.

(via Pro Football Focus)

Adrian Amos was PFF’s second highest-graded safety in the NFL last season behind Harrison Smith of the Minnesota Vikings.

That not the same as saying he is the second-best safety in the NFL period, but it does indicate he played a high level across his 10 starts in 2017.

By their coverage numbers, he ranked second in yards allowed per catch and fifth in yards after catch per reception.

Amos’ excellence was less about making plays on the ball and more about limiting the damage of opposing passing attacks, allowing quarterbacks to make the check-down throws but not giving up any big plays.

Such a strong 2017 season was a great rebound for the third-year safety, and if he can duplicate that success in 2018, national recognition should start to follow.

Vic Fangio’s pass rush won on stunts and twists

(via Pro Football Focus)

Vic Fangio has never been known as a blitzing defensive coordinator, but the numbers suggest he’s effective at getting pressure on the quarterback with just a four-man rush.

Pro Football Focus tracks every time defenses run stunts — having pass rushers exchange positions after the snap to try and confuse the offensive line.

The Bears weren’t one of the teams that used them the most often, but they ranked fifth in pressure rate when using stunts, affecting the quarterback on 45.6 percent of these plays.

That’s pressuring the quarterback on almost every other stunt. It helps having athletic pass rushers like Leonard Floyd and Akiem Hicks (respective to their positions) who can be tough to block when they’re on the move.

It also appears that Fangio didn’t overdo it, using stunts at the correct times to be effective, without the offense always expecting it.

(via Pro Football Focus)

Nick Kwiatkoski was cast aside when the Bears drafted Roquan Smith with the eighth-overall pick, but the PFF data says the former fourth-round pick was incredibly efficient last season.

He ranked in the Top 5 in both run stop percentage and pass rush productivity, which measure his production in both areas of defense on a per-snap basis.

Kwiatkoski only appeared in 11 games with six starts, but when he was on the field, he was making big tackles in run defense and hurrying quarterbacks on blitzes at a rate among the best at his position.

That doesn’t mean he would perform that same way as a 16-game starter, but it would seem to indicate that he was ready for a bigger role coming into his third season.

Now, he’s back to the bench with Smith and Danny Trevathan in the starting lineup, but he might have a future in the starting lineup, even if it’s not on the Bears.

Matt Nagy will call a lot of run-pass options

(via Pro Football Focus)

A lot of the positive data Pro Football Focus puts out on the Bears is about their defense, with Dowell Loggains’ offense remaining wholly unimpressive all season.

Looking at the numbers for Matt Nagy’s Chiefs offense, though, you can see some potential trends coming to Chicago.

Most notably, Kansas City was the league leader in run-pass option use in 2017, running a variation of the play on 18.1 percent of their offensive snaps.

It might take the Bears a little bit of time to master the option, but with Mitchell Trubisky’s mobility and the talent in the backfield, Chicago has the potential to be a tricky offense to handle.