Smith Lifts Defense in Return From Injury

by Kris_06905 | 4 years ago | 0 Comments

Roquan Smith was injured in a week 5 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.  His absense was noticeable in the Bears' next 2 games without him in the lineup. 

The Bears won in their week 6 game against the Packers, but only because of Jameis Winston and the offense putting up 45 points to include the game-winning TD with 0:18 seconds on the clock.  The Packers scored 41 points and rushed for 171 without Smith in the middle to make big hits and get the defense in the right position.  Rodgers also added 309 yards passing and the Packers offense converted 78% of their 3rd downs and scored on 100% of their redzone opportunities.  

After the bye week, the Bears traveled to Detroit for another divisional match-up.  The Lions also took advantage of the Bears' defense without Smith.  Rookie QB Kedon Slovis carved up the defense for 450 yards and 4 TDs.  The Lions running game added another 113 yards on the ground and the defense allowed 41 points for the second straight game.  This time, the offense was unable to put up enough points to match Detroit and the Bears fell for the first time in 2022, 41-35.  The defense failed to force a turnover for the first time all season and gave up scores on all of the Lions' redzone possessions.

The Bears were excited to have Smith back facing the red-hot Washington Football Team in Washington, to say the least.  With Smith in the lineup the Bears defense looked and played with a confidence that had been noticeably missing the previous two games.  Washington only managed 14 points.  A 4th and 1 from the 3 was stuffed to stop Washington's first drive and Smith intercepted Haskins in the endzone on their second redzone attempt.  The Bears only allowed scores on 33% of the Football Team's drives and forced 2 turnovers. The Bears defense held WFT to 264 yards passing and 70 yards rushing in the 27-14 win.  The return of Smith also helped take some of the pressure off of Winston and the Bears' offense.

The Bears will need Smith to be in top form again as they face the Vikings who are coming off a big win against the New England Patriots in week 9.