The Chicago Bears have boasted of being one of the best defenses in NFL history this season. Just imagine how excited they were to finally be able to not just play an opposing team, but even more importantly, tackle to the ground leading up to their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers.
Linebacker Roquan Smith made it abundantly clear that Chicago's defense was unleashing some pent-up physicality versus Carolina on Thursday night, rushing his way through the line of scrimmage on a delayed blitz to sack Panthers backup signal-caller Kyle Allen.
Roquan Smith is about to be living in the backfield this season pic.twitter.com/QpfslN6Ub5
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) August 9, 2019
Perfectly-timed blitz. Clean, hard hit. Welcome back to football!
Smith, the No. 8 overall pick of last year's draft, is coming off a standout rookie season in which he established himself as one of the Bears' defensive leaders. He finished with 121 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, five quarterback hits, one interception, and five passes defensed while starting 14 games at inside linebacker, earning All-Rookie honors from the Pro Football Writers Association of America and also the Brian Piccolo Award, given annually to the Chicago player who best exemplifies the courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and sense of humor of the late running back, who died at 26 from cancer.
In June, safety Eddie Jackson, a rising star like Smith, predicted the Bears' defense this season would challenge the organization's hallowed 1985 unit in terms of overall dominance. “I’ll go right now for our defense to be No. 1 across the board,” he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, before declaring he and his teammates want to “top everything” Mike Ditka's unit did 34 years ago.
Follow Us
Subscribe