Bears Defense Actually Looked Good Against the Jets in Week 3 - Don't Expect that against the Packers

When the Bears defense forced four fumbles and two interceptions (one pick-six) en route to a 27-19 win on Monday Night Football in Week 3, I was very pleased.

I mean, the Bears defense looked amazing Monday night. Chicago was forcing turnovers left and right, putting pressure on the quarterback, and scoring. The defense actually looked good. And, as a bonus, our special teams unit didn't look horrendous like they did in Weeks 1 and 2. Speaking of Week 2, our defense looked great against the 49ers. 

Our defense looked so good, I was having some flashbacks of our defense during the Lovie Smith era. Okay, maybe the defense wasn't that good, but you get my point. 

Even though the defense didn't look Lovie Smith-good in Week 3, they looked a heck of a lot better than last season.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Bears defense played well against the Jets, but we have to remember: we were playing the Jets. 

Now, I'm not saying that Week 3 was a big fluke on the defensive side of the football. Our defense will certainly be better than last year (I mean, can you get any worse?). However, the defense is still subpar, and a friendly week 3 matchup may have been the biggest cause for the four fumbles forced and the two INTs.

Ryan Mundy and Kyle Fuller both picked off Geno Smith. Mundy took it into the endzone. But did the defense looks so good largely due to a lousy Jets offense and quarterback?

Let's look at just how bad this Jets offense is.

In 2013, the Jets ranked in the bottom 10% of all teams in almost every major offensive category. Per ESPN.com,

• New York ranked fourth to last in points per game, scoring a mere 18.1 points per game.

• They ranked tied for 27th in total first downs, with just 280 first downs the whole season. 
• The Jets ranked 25th in yards per game as well, with just 318. 
• New York had 183 pass yards per game last year, good for second-last in the NFL. 
• The Jets were third worst in the league last year in passing first downs, with just 154. 
• New York had 231 third down attempts last year, which is fifth most. You'll notice that the top-scoring teams (like Denver, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas) usually have the lowest third down attempts. 
• The Jets were dead last in the NFL in fourth down conversion percentage, converting just 12.5% of the time on fourth downs. Denver, the #1 team in this category, converted 89% of the time on fourth down. 
• The Jets were last in the league in completion percentage for passers, completing just 55.4% of their passes last year.
• New York QBs (mostly Geno Smith) passed for an average of 183 yards per game, second worst.
• With a passer rating of 66.6, the Jets are last in the league.
• New York threw for just 13 TD passes the whole year in 2013. That's last. The Broncos, first in the league, had 55 TD passes. Of course, Denver has Peyton Manning. The Jets have Geno Smith.
• With 22 INTs, the Jets QBs had the third most picks in the league.
• Jets QBs have been sacked 47 times. That's the 6th most in the NFL.
• The Jets were second worst in the NFL in receptions, with just 266 the whole year.
• New York was the third worst team in football in reception yards, with 3,270 reception yards.
• The Jets' longest reception was 69 yards, which ranked 24th. 
• The Jets were on the rock bottom of the league in reception TDs with just 13 the whole year. 13!

I can keep going on, but you get my point. I think you got the point by the first three or four stats, but I just wanted to keep making fun of how bad the Jets offense is. So I gave you about a hundred stats just for laughs. You're welcome.

Anyhow, the Bears did a great job beating down an awful offense.

Geno Smith and his offense really struggled in 2013. Unfortunately, not every offense is as bad as the Jets'.

Unfortunately, not every offense is as bad as the Jets. And with the Packers headed to Chicago in Week 4, I'm not really banking on a low-scoring game. Sure, Green Bay has struggled this season, but let's take into account that the Packers have Aaron Rodgers, who seems to be a Bears-killer.

I'm not expecting a strong defensive performance against the Pack's dominant offense. 

This defense can beat a bad team in Week 3. If the defense shuts down Green Bay next week, then we can really start talking.