NFL
Edgar Chaput
September 21, 2023

Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator Williams Resigns

If there Chicago Bears’ situation seemed bad enough through two weeks, the club now has another challenge. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams has resigned, as announced by the franchise on Wednesday. He had been away from the club since before Week 2 against the Buccaneers for “personal reasons,” also according to the club.

The Bears were the subject of the latest midweek instalment of Inside the Line during which Cam Stewart shared his views on what ails the Windy City.

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As of Thursday afternoon, Matt Eberflus’ group is a massive +13 underdog on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs. Here’s our full game preview.

Chicago Bears Lose Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams

A lot has been said and written through two weeks about QB Justin Fields and the tepid offensive output, but the defensive side of things isn’t anything to be proud of either. The team ranks 29^th in total yards allowed, 27^th in yards conceded through the air, and 31^st in points given up. The only category for which they place in the top 20 is run defence (16^th).

The opposition has converted on 54.8 per cent of third downs on the defence, an extremely high number. Lastly, the Bears have the sixth-most penalized defensive group.

Head coach Matt Eberflus took over play-calling duties for last Sunday’s 27-17 defeat in Tampa Bay. He’ll be doing that same in Week 3, only instead of trying to stop Baker Mayfield, his unit’s challenge is to slow down Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and company.

Like any of the 32 NFL teams, Chicago’s roster is afflicted by injuries, but most concern offensive players. Safety Eddie Jackson is questionable as of Thursday, as is corner Josh Blackwell, whereas fellow secondary player Kyler Gordon is on IR. By and large, however, it’s a relatively healthy unit. It simply isn’t playing well.

Alan Williams had only been with the Bears since the 2022 offseason, which is when Eberflus was hired as head coach.